


Edge of Darkness

by Skyuni123



Category: Twilight (Movies), Twilight Series - All Media Types, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: AU, BAMF Women, Canon Rewrite, Cynicism, F/F, F/M, Feminism, Love, Panic Attacks, Sarcasm, Self-Esteem Issues, Slow Burn, Stalking, Women Being Awesome, twilight but with lesbians
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-18
Updated: 2018-04-14
Packaged: 2018-05-14 18:34:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 15
Words: 24,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5753845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyuni123/pseuds/Skyuni123
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Bella Swan catches the eye of an entirely different Cullen, proceedings spiral out of control quicker than anyone would ever have thought possible.</p><p>- Twilight, if Bella Swan had a lick of sense.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> I mean, this is mostly serious.

I'd never really given thought to how I would die. It was something that hung at the edge of my thoughts like a long-forgotten memory. I imagined slipping away whilst I slept or at an old age surrounded by my family.  
I never had a reason to believe that it would be because of love.

It was my reflection that I was drawn to in the endless hall of mirrors. I would never give him the satisfaction of acknowledging his presence, even at my end.

Surely it was a good way for me to die, in the place of someone I loved. Surely that ought to mean something in the great scheme of things, but now, after all that had happened, I had no right to expect any sort of miracle. 

I stared into my own eyes as I heard the hunter move towards me. 

\---

My mother had always been a devoted woman, doing her best to support me throughout my entire life, and it hurt to leave the city I had called home for so many years. I knew, that although of my reluctance to leave her, and her reluctance to let me go, that it would be better for her in the long run. 

It was seventy-eight degrees in Phoenix, Arizona. I had on a white t-shirt, with lace panels along the sleeves, and I was pale despite the near-constant heat of the city. My friends had always teased that I was part vampire, and after seventeen years of never-tanning I was almost inclined to believe them. 

"You don't have to go." My mother said, making conversation for almost the first time since she had ushered me into the car earlier that morning. She, out of the kindness of her heart, was driving me to the airport so I could take a flight to Forks, Washington.

"I do, mom." I said, trying to sound like I wasn't completely lying, "It's fine." 

Forks, Washington, was not high on the list of my favourite places in the entire world. Having been brought up in a city that averaged 87 degrees and bright sun all year round, the almost-constant gloom and non-stop rain that frequented Forks was not something I loved. But, it had to be done, and I was going to make the most of it. 

I got the feeling that my mother wasn't happy that I was leaving. She was almost completely silent as I got my bags out of the trunk of the car.   
"Thank you for driving me." I said, awkwardly. I'd never been verbose, instead rather fond of just letting others take the lead. "I'll call you as soon as I get into Forks." 

My mother looked at me then, and I before I could do anything about it she rushed over to me and crushed me in her arms. I uncomfortably put my bags down and patted her on the back. "It's fine." I said, trying my hardest to be reassuring and being very bad at it. 

"My darling Bella, all grown up." My mom sniffed, and with a jolt of horror I realised she was crying. I didn't realise my departure would affect her quite so much.  
"It's only a year, mom. I'll be back before you know it." I patted her back and wondered when I had become the strong one in the family. 

After many more hugs and what passed as a checklist of things to remember, 'Say hi to Charlie for me!' 'I will, mom!', and the like, I finally was able to pass through security and board the plane. 

As I gazed out the window and saw the earth fall away from beneath me, I pondered the situation I had found myself in.

My mother, Renee, had always been the strong one in our family. She had tried her hardest to give me a proper childhood, but fortune had fallen quite far from our tree and we had never been especially wealthy. We weren't dirt poor, but we had always had issues with money. It simply had gotten too much for my father, Charlie, and after being offered a job as the Sheriff in Forks, he had left when I was seven.

My mother, now single, and raising her child, had tried her hardest on her single wage and made my childhood one to remember. It was just after I had turned sixteen when she had found a partner, a nice man named Jim, who was in an amateur baseball league, and just before my seventeenth birthday they had decided to move in together. Our two bedroom house, being far too small for two adults and one nearly-adult, was what had lead me to the situation I found myself in. I was leaving to give them space. I was leaving to make my mom happy. After a lifetime of support from her I owed her this much. Forks wasn't an ideal place to go, but my father was nice enough and at least I wouldn't be paying rent. 

I sighed, and suddenly being uncomfortably confronted with the sight of my own face reflected by the plane window - brown eyes, dark brown hair, far too pale for my own good - I decided I needed something to take my mind off what my new life would bring.


	2. Flight Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Charlie smiled at me as we both climbed out of the cruiser. I brushed sleep out of my eyes and hoped that the rest of my time in Forks would continue as it had since my arrival. Comfortable, and without too many adventures.  
> It wouldn’t take me long to realise how wrong my prediction had been."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second chapter... woooo! Let's hope that there's no grammar errors in this because I've been in a perpetual state of tiredness for the last three days. How are we all?

A long bank of cloud obscured any view I had of Port Angeles as the plane landed, and I was briefly left wondering why we hadn’t been diverted if the weather was that bad.  
I supposed that they were used to it. It had been a four hour flight from Phoenix to Seattle and an hour long flight on a smaller plane to Port Angeles. The flights were fine, but the hour-long drive with my father, Charlie, onto Forks, was something I was slightly worried about. It wasn’t that I disliked the man; I spent at least one vacation a year with him, but neither of us were what would be called ‘conversational’. I had inherited my quiet ways from him.

I was sure that Charlie was somewhat confused to why I had decided to move to Forks. I had never been shy about my disdain for Forks’ near-constant drizzle, and it was a move that I’m sure seemed uncharacteristic of me.  
But, it had to be done. My mother deserved that much, and besides, it was only for a year or so. I would soon be an adult, and I was sure that I wouldn’t ever be stuck in a place like Forks ever again.  
Charlie had been rather nice about the whole thing. He had seemed genuinely pleased that I was going to spend a significant amount of time in Forks. He had even gotten me registered for the local high school, and was apparently going to help me get a car. 

What more could I ask for?

My father was waiting for me with the cruiser. This, I was expecting. Charlie is Police Chief Swan to the good people of Forks, and makes no attempt to hide it. I had been pleased when I had heard he was going to try and get me a car because I could not fathom being driven to school in a police car. Arriving at a new high school in the car of the city’s chief cop wasn’t going to win me any favours. 

Charlie gave me a strong, two-armed hug, as I tried to collect myself after stumbling off the plane. His embrace was warm, and familiar.  
Had it really been a year since I had seen him in person?  
“It’s good to see you, Bells.” He said, voice muffled by my jacket, “How were the flights?”

I pulled away and looked at him. He was a short man, about my height, with short, rapidly-graying hair, and a thick moustache. I felt a swell of love for the man in front of me and I knew I had made the right choice in coming to Forks. I didn’t nearly spend enough time with my father as I should have done, and it was wonderful to see him again.

“The flights were about as dull as you’d expect, Charlie.” I said, but smiled to soften my tone. “How’s Forks?”

“You’ll find out soon, Bells.” Charlie replied, “How’s your mom? Also, how many bags do you have?”

Upon retrieving my very few bags, and enlightening him on the state of Renee and her new partner – to which he said, “No offense to you, Bells, but I’m thankful I left,”, because he could never stand baseball – we climbed into the cruiser and buckled in tight.

“I got you a car.” He said, pulling out of the airport’s parking lot. “Good condition, very cheap.”

“What kind of car?” I asked, slightly suspicious at his tone of voice. He’d said ‘car’ oddly.

“It’s a truck, actually. A Chevy.” 

“Who’d you buy it from?” I wasn’t phased with having to drive a truck, I’d driven one before for a short period of time, but the way he’d phrased his sentences was irking me. Something was up.

“Do you remember Billy Black? Down at La Push?” La Push is a tiny Native American reservation on the coast.

“Barely?” I did have memories of a tall, pleasant man, but they were faint. I was fairly sure he had a son, but I did know that I hadn’t seen the man or any children of his for several years at least.

“He’s in a wheelchair now.” Charlie explained, without prompting, “And can’t drive. He offered to sell me his truck, cheap, and I accepted.”

I blew out a breath. It all sounded fairly legitimate, but… “What year is it?”

Charlie didn’t answer for a moment, then said, sounding sheepish, “Billy bought it in 1984, but he was fairly sure it was new in the 60s.”

“Charlie!” I was shocked. It wasn’t that I wasn’t thankful for the cheap truck, but I had absolutely no mechanical skills to speak of. To completely reinforce gender roles, if there was a toss-up between shop and home ec, my skills in home ec would surpass shop by miles.

“The engine is new.” He said, “And they don’t build them like that anymore. It’s hardy.”

I sighed, and although I wasn’t entirely happy with the agreement I said, “How much is it?”

“Well…” Charlie admitted, “I kind of already bought it for you. It’s a…moving present. Or something like that.”

Wow. Free?  
“Huh.” I mean, I wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth, no matter how old or broken-down said gift horse might be, “Thanks, Charlie. I really appreciate it.”

We exchanged some more pleasantries, light things, about the weather, what my past year of schooling had been like, and other topics, but soon the conversational well had dried up. It was to be expected, neither of us were great at talking, and scholarly pursuits are not the most interesting topics of conversation. I hoped that we would eventually be able to talk properly, but it wasn’t exactly going to happen on my first day back in Forks. 

I yawned, and stared out the window. Flying did always make me sleepy. 

The landscape was beautiful, that I did have to admit. It was just so green. From the leaves to the trees to the light that filtered down through the canopy above, everything was green. I wasn’t used to so much color where there usually was none. 

It was too green – an alien planet. 

It would take some getting used to to make this view my normal. 

I was lulled to sleep by the gentle hum of the engine, and I eventually awoke as we pulled into the driveway at Charlie’s. 

There was a truck, parked next to Charlie’s cruiser. It was a faded orange, with big, round fenders and a bulbous cab. To my complete and utter surprise, I loved it. I didn’t know how long it’d last, or even if I’d get the thing running, but it seemed well-built and dependable.  
“Thanks, Charlie! It looks great.”

He smiled at me as we both climbed out of the cruiser. I brushed sleep out of my eyes and hoped that the rest of my time in Forks would continue as it had since my arrival. Comfortable, and without too many adventures.  
It wouldn’t take me long to realise how wrong my prediction had been.


	3. Office Work

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She giggled again, and it was oddly musical, light and lovely in the heavy air. “I make a habit of knowing about the students here. I’m Alice. I go to school here and sometimes I help out in the office.”
> 
> She offered me her hand in a way that was strangely quaint and I took it. “Bella Swan. Moved here from Phoenix yesterday. Very lost.”

My room was much as I had remembered it - small, cosy, and made for someone far younger than me. I came to Forks every year or so and I still hadn’t made the effort to make it feel more homely.

 

I supposed that was my fault. Charlie had done what he could - there was a modem perched on the edge of my antique wooden desk, so I could plug in my computer (a stipulation by my mother, who was insistent that I’d Skype her at least once a day), but the rest of the room was fairly bare. Warm light filtered through the yellowed curtains around the window and dust hung the air.

I took a breath and nearly choked on the dust. Yes, I’d need to do a bit of cleaning at some point.

 

It was hard not to notice how the house had changed since I had last been around, though. It was like Charlie had made some kind of  _ effort.  _

 My father, as much as I love him, is a bit absent-minded. His job keeps him busy and he’s more fond of watching the game on the weekend than keeping the house tidy. Something felt off. Something like…

 

“Charlie, do you have a special someone?” I teased, raising an eyebrow at him. 

 He looked uncomfortable almost immediately.

 I quickly backpedalled, not wanting to make things weird in the first few hours of my stay here. “I’m seventeen, I’ve had the talk, for the record. No judgment.” 

 

Somehow, I think my words just made the situation worse.

 

“Yes…” He said stiffly, looking like he wasn’t quite sure how I’d react. “Sue. She’s nice. You’d like her.” 

 “That’s good to hear.” I said, and patted him on the shoulder as I passed him to take my bag up to my room. It _was_ good to hear. I wanted my father to be happy just as much as I wanted my mother to be. “I’m happy for you.”

 

As I settled into my room and started unpacking my things, I heard my father turn the television on downstairs. We’re not very personal people, Charlie and I, and I’m sure the tiny amount of information he’d divulged on his love life had wore him out. I probably wouldn’t even be able to find out what he wanted for dinner at this rate.

 My belongings, meagre as they were, took a while to unpack and I found myself wondering about my new high school as I loaded things into the old pine dresser.

 

Forks High School only had about four-hundred students in total - a fair sight fewer than my junior class in Phoenix which numbered around seven hundred - so it would be quite a dramatic change. I wouldn’t be able to hide within the masses and I’d probably have to speak up in class more than I was used to.

 At least I _looked_ like someone who spent a lot of time in the rain. My pale skin made sure of that. I’d stand out, though. Even if my entry to the school went unnoticed, the bright orange truck definitely wouldn’t. I wasn’t a joiner. Even in a school of three thousand back in Phoenix, I’d managed to somehow stand out. 

 

I didn’t get a lot of sleep that night, even after I was done crying.  The constant whooshing of the rain and wind across the roof wouldn't fade into the background. I couldn't fall asleep until after midnight, when the rain finally settled into a quieter drizzle. 

 Thick fog was all I could see out my window in the morning, and I could feel the claustrophobia creeping up on me. It felt spooky, like I’d been placed into a terrible 80s horror b-movie. Honestly, at this point, I wouldn’t even be surprised if by next week I was being haunted by something. 

 

Breakfast with Charlie was a quiet event. He wished me good luck at school. I thanked him, knowing that it wasn’t likely. Schools and I tended to be fair weather friends, at best. He left first, off to the police station that was basically his family. 

Soon after, I donned my jacket and headed out into the rain. It was pouring down, on the edge of a veritable gale, and I was soaked through almost immediately. It looked like I was going to have to find a better jacket soonish, or else I might catch a cold. I wasn’t going to do  _ that  _ in my first few days in Forks. 

The inside of the truck was nice and dry. Obviously, someone had cleaned it up, but the tan upholstery still smelt vaguely of tobacco and peppermint. It wasn’t the worst smell in the world - far better than the wet dog smell that my old rain jacket was giving out - so I shook off the worst of the rain and put my key in the ignition. The engine started quickly, but loudly, and I was instantly relieved. I was basically sunk if a truck this old decided to give out on me. The antique radio worked well, a plus I hadn’t expected.

 

_ “-oooooood morning, Forks, and you are listening to Radioactive FM. In the news today, three bodies were discovered out on the edge of the McAlister Hiking Trail overnight. Police are at the scene, but I have been told to inform you to stay away from that side of town at least until midday. In other news-” _

I let the radio news play on in the background as I focussed on finding my way to school. The Google Maps map that Charlie had printed out and stuck to the dashboard was quaint, but lovely, and it did its job as I found my way to the school without any trouble.

 

It wasn’t immediately obvious as a school, aside from the sign reading ‘Forks High School’. It looked like a collection of matching houses, mainly red brick, surrounded by so many trees and shrubs that I couldn’t quite tell its size, at first. The rain didn’t help. Where was the feel of the institution? I wondered nostalgically. Where were the high fences, the security guards?

 

I parked in the car park, and squinted through the pouring rain to try and find out where to go. The small sign over the front building reading ‘Office’ seemed like a decent bet, so I squared my shoulders, grabbed my bag and stepped out of my truck to face the rain.

And face the rain I did. I was pretty sure that any part of me that had missed the first dowsing was resoundingly soaked in seconds. I stumbled into the building, wiping water from my eyes, and ran right into a young woman who was carrying a bunch of folders. We tumbled onto the ground in a pastiche of every bad meet-cute I’d ever seen. 

 

She was small, thin in the extreme, and had cropped black hair that stuck out in every direction. Despite the dark shadows under her eyes, she was beautiful in a way that I’d never seen before, inhuman and devastatingly perfect. Or like she was painted by an old master with the face of an angel. 

 

I immediately felt bad. 

 

“Oh my god, I am so sorry. I didn’t see you!” I yelped, and helped lift her to her feet. Her folders, numbered as they were, were scattered around the ground. God, she even smelled good too - a mixture of deep clove and red berry that promised far more than it showed. 

 

She regarded me curiously for a moment, mirth clear in her golden eyes. She laughed quietly and said, “It’s okay! Honestly, in this weather it’s pretty hard to see anything.” She bent down to pick up her folders and I followed suit, collecting a couple and giving them back to her. “You’re new, aren’t you?”

I huffed, wondering how she’d managed to figure it out. I’d barely been in the place five minutes. “Yes. Is it that obvious?”

She giggled again, and it was oddly musical, light and lovely in the heavy air. “I make a habit of knowing about the students here. I’m Alice. I go to school here and sometimes I help out in the office.”

She offered me her hand in a way that was strangely quaint and I took it. “Bella Swan. Moved here from Phoenix yesterday.  _ Very  _ lost.”

“Oh gosh, you’re all wet.” Alice gasped, finally realising that I was dripping on the carpet, and dropped my hand. “Come on, I’ll get a towel and then sort out your schedule.”

“You looked like you were rushing off, you don’t-”

“It’s fine.” She said and smiled at me. The smile was so kind, in a genuine way, that I felt butterflies flitting about in my stomach.

 

Damn. I’d barely been here five minutes!

 

She dragged me through a maze of corridors that I knew I’d never be able to memorise, and fetched me a towel from a stack within a maintenance closet. Then, she led me back to the front desk and rifled through a stack of papers that lay underneath a gold deer paperweight. 

“Sams… Stanford… Swan!” She pulled the piece of paper out and handed it to me, crumpling it a bit in the process. “Your classes, and a map’s on the back. I  _ would  _ take you there myself, but I’ve got Trig in completely the other direction.”

“You’re a godsend.” I flipped the paper over to check out the map for myself. It didn’t seem too complicated, but knowing me, I would get lost at some point. “Don’t worry. I’ll find it.” 

She smiled at me again and I felt another rush of the tingling in my stomach. Jeez. Why did she have to look like she routinely graced the covers of fashion magazines? It was truly unfair. Then, she furrowed her brows in thought. “Hang on… Swan? You’re not Charlie’s daughter, are you?”

“The one and only.” I shrugged. Did my reputation really proceed me that much?

“He’s really pleased you’re back.”

 

I raised an eyebrow at her. If he was, he wasn’t that great at showing it. That being said, how did  _ she  _ know?

“One of my brothers works in the diner in town. I’m in there a lot too. The amount of times I’ve heard him talking about ‘his Bells’ and about you coming back? The man’s got a soft spot for you.” She explained.

I blushed. I couldn’t help it. Her words had an edge of truth to them, even though they were the sort of things that Charlie would never say to my face. Jeez. Families were complicated. “Thanks… for telling me that.” I said, eyes fixed at the floor. 

“It’s not a problem.” Alice shrugged happily and brushed a lock of hair away from her face. “Anyway, we’ve got about five minutes to get to our classes, so we’d better be going. You’re out the door, to the right. Building Three.” 

“Thanks. Nice… nice meeting you, Alice.” I bit my lip, not really wanting to leave her presence so soon. There was something so… mysterious about her, and yet, she seemed like one of the warmest people I’d ever met. I couldn’t quite figure her out. 

“Nice to meet you too, Bella. I hope I’ll see you around!” And with nothing more than a wave with one lithe arm, she took off out of the door and into the pouring rain. 

 

I stared after her, already missing her bubbly presence. Well. That had been interesting. 

And then the bell rang and I realised that I was probably about to be late to my first class on my first day in Forks. Damn.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> check me out on the [tumbs](http://villainousfilmmaker.tumblr.com) or the [twits](http://twitter.com/skyuni123)
> 
> guess i write twilight fic now  
> lol 2008 me is crying.


	4. Strangers at the Table

Judging by the students still milling about when I got outside, I wasn’t late to class yet, but I would be soon. I rushed towards the building marked with a large ‘3’, feet slipping on the pavement, and hoped that I wouldn’t end up face first on the ground again for the second time that day.

 I felt my breathing gradually creeping towards hyperventilation as I approached the door. Would they like me? Would I stand out? All I wanted to do was to live out my final year of high school in peace. I tried holding my breath as I followed two girls in bright yellow raincoats through the door. They were two girls, one a porcelain-colored blonde, the other also pale, with light brown hair. At least my skin wouldn't be a standout here.

 I went up to the teacher, a tall, grey-haired man who had a nameplate identifying him as Mr Mason. He gawked when I told him what my name was - not an encouraging response - but he soon went on to welcome me to his class and wish me well for the year ahead. I sat in an empty desk at the back of the class and went through the reading list he had given me. It was fairly basic: Shakespeare, Thomas and Bronte, with a couple of more modern wildcards. I was pleased to see _Station Eleven,_ a book I had recently finished and enjoyed, on the list. It was good to see that not all of the literature was stuck in the past.

 

When the bell rang to signal the end of class, a well-built boy with a faint beard and hair as black as an oil slick leaned across the aisle to talk to me.

“You’re Bella Swan, right?” He seemed the overly helpful, good-at-joining type. Considering his stature, maybe a dancer?

“Yep.” Everyone around us proceeded to grab their bags and make their way out of the classroom. I itched to join them. 

“Where’s your next class?”

 I checked my schedule. “Government, with Jefferson, building Six.” 

 “I’m headed towards Four, I could show you the way…?” He said, adding, “I’m Eric.”

 I smiled tentatively. He seemed nice enough, and I didn’t know the way… “Thanks.”

 

We headed out into the rain, which had lessened slightly from earlier in the morning. In fact, the sun was beginning to peek out from the clouds. Hopefully it was a sign.

 

“You’re from Phoenix, right? Here must be a bit of a change,” He asked.

"There’s certainly more sun.” I said, dryly. 

He laughed and said, “It doesn’t rain much there, does it?” 

“Nope.”

 “You don’t look very tan.”

 “My mother is part albino.” 

 He laughed again and said, “You’re funny, Phoenix girl. That’s your building there.” He pointed at the building, even though it was clearly marked. 

 “Oh, great. Cheers!” I smiled vaguely at him, and went inside.

 Eric had been nice enough, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that he was only doing it because I was new at the school. New people were always interesting, until they weren’t.

 

The rest of the morning passed in roughly the same fashion. The rain came and went and I vowed to buy a new rain jacket as soon as I was able. My Trig teacher, Mr Johnson, was the only one who asked me to introduce myself, and I nearly tripped over my own feet as I walked up to the front of the class.

As mornings go, it was  _ fine. _

After two classes, I began to notice certain faces peeking out of the general miasma of NEW PEOPLE. There was always someone who would introduce themselves, and someone who would walk with me to my next class. At least I didn’t need the map.

One girl sat next to me in both Trig and Drama and she walked with me to the cafeteria for lunch. She had wildly curly dark hair, and although I knew she had told me her name, try as I might I couldn’t remember it. Jasmine? Jane? Something like that.

We sat at the end of a full table with some of her friends, whom she introduced to me. I only remembered a couple of their names, and even so, I didn’t think I’d be able to repeat them if asked. The boy from English, Eric, waved at me from a few tables over.

It was there, in the lunchroom, that I finally noticed  _ them.  _

 

They were sitting in the corner of the lunchroom, about as far away from me as possible. There were four strangers, and Alice from the office, sitting as though posed with trays of untouched food in front of them. They weren’t talking, and they weren’t eating, and they certainly weren’t looking at me.

Of the three boys, one was muscled like a serious weightlifter, with dark hair and tan skin. Another was taller, leaner, and honey blond. The last was wiry, like a terrier, with untidy copper hair. 

The girls were opposites. There was Alice, so petite and lovely, who I had met in the office. The other looked like she could have ridden into battle like a Valkyrie. She was tall, with golden hair, and had a sort of ferocious energy that radiated out from her.

And yet, somehow, they were exactly alike. All their features were straight, perfect, angular, and they all had dark shadows under their eyes that seemed to belie a bad night’s sleep. 

As I watched, they rose, almost in sync, to lope away and out the back door. My eyes darted back the others at my table, who seemed amused by my fixation.

 

“Who are  _ they?”  _ I asked Jessica, whose name I had finally remembered.

As she looked over at the group - though I suppose my tone gave away who I meant -  the smaller one looked back at me and met my gaze. I blushed, having been caught staring, and looked away. His gaze had held nothing of interest - it was almost clinical in its simplicity, as though I was a lab rat he was trying to examine.

Jessica looked down at the table, much like I had, and giggled. “They’re the adopted kids of Carlisle and Esme Cullen, who are doctors in town. The big guy was Emmett, the smaller one was Edward and the honey-blond, Jasper. The women are Rosalie and Alice.”

“I met Alice this morning,” I mused, “In the office.”

“Oh yeah?” Jessica asked, “She’s pretty nice, eh? The others don’t talk much, but she’s a sweetheart.”

“She really was.” I breathed a sigh of relief. “So are they related? They don’t look it.”

“Gossip mill says that they’re all adopted and they live together in one big house in the forest.” My neighbour on my other side, a girl with long black hair, leaned over and stole one of my chips. “And Emmett and Rosalie are  _ together  _ together. It’s weird, if you ask me.”

“I mean, who wouldn’t want to be in the middle of that bunch?” Jessica said, with a sigh, staring longingly at the back door. “They’re all so beautiful. I’m  _ totally  _ not worthy.”

“I don’t think any of us are.” The black-haired girl, who’s name I had just remembered was Angela, said. “They hardly look human. It’s unfair.”

My eyes continued to flick towards the backdoor throughout the entirety of the conversation. It had been weird, the look the copper-haired boy had given me. It was almost  _ alien.  _ “Who was the shorter one? The guy with the copper hair?” I asked, hoping I hadn’t accidentally interrupted anyone. 

“Edward.” Jessica said, with a mock swoon. “He’s gorgeous, of course, but don’t waste your time. He doesn’t date. We thought he was gay for a bit, but after the incident with Mike’s older brother last summer… yeah, apparently none of the people here are good-looking enough for him.” She sniffed, a clear case of sour grapes. I wondered if he had turned her down.

 

I sat at the table with Jess and her friends longer than I would have if I'd been sitting alone. Angela had Biology II with me the next hour so we walked to class together in silence. She was shy, too, at least when it came to matters that weren’t the latest gossip. 

When we entered the classroom, Angela went to sit at a black-topped lab table. She already had a neighbor. In fact, all the tables were filled but one. Next to the center aisle, I recognized Edward Cullen, sitting next to the single open seat. As I walked down the aisle to introduce myself to the teacher, I was watching him surreptitiously. 

Just as I passed, he suddenly shot straight up in his seat, like he’d been electrocuted. He stared at me, meeting my eyes with the strangest expression on his face — it was hostile, furious. I looked away quickly, confused, going red again. 

I’d noticed that his eyes were black - coal black. 

 

Throughout the lesson on cellular anatomy, I peeked over my shoulder at him, and noticed that his posture never relaxed. I could see that his hand on his left leg was clenched into a fist, tendons standing out under pale skin. It was odd. Was I really that repellent? 

I glanced back at him one final time as the bell went, and immediately regretted it. He was glaring at me again, eyes full of hate. If looks could kill, I would have been flayed alive in my seat. Bastard. If I was such a threat to him, he could make his excuses to the teacher. I wasn’t going to let someone like him get to me on my first day.

Before I had a chance to move, he was out of his seat, swinging his bag over his shoulder, and moving fluidly out of the room. I stared after him, blankly, too stunned to make tracks of my own. What the hell had that been about?

 

“You’re Bella, right?” 

A chirpy voice interrupted my reverie and I looked up to find a baby-faced boy, blond hair swept over one eye, smiling at me in a friendly way. At least he didn’t seem to find me totally odious. “That’s the one.”

“I’m Mike.”

“Nice to meet you.” I said, and it was. I’d only known him for a few seconds, but he seemed remarkably unconceited, and I needed someone like that to break me out of my Cullen musings. 

“Do you need any help finding your next class?”

“I’m heading to the gym, actually. That’s the big building by Building Seven, right?”

“Yeah.” He seemed happy. “That’s my next class too!”

He seemed thrilled, although it wasn’t that big a coincidence in a school this size, and we walked together.

 

“So what’s up with Edward?” I asked, trying to glean some information about the mysterious boy in as subtle a way as possible.

Mike rolled his eyes. “Don’t even get me started on that family. They’re all on my ‘I’m Straight and in a Relationship but if you Asked I Totally Would’ list, you feel?”

Boy, did I ever. “Yes. What’s the deal with them? Why are they… so weird?”

I felt like it was a bit ‘throwing stones in glass houses’ of new-girl me to ask why five random people were weird, but I was curious.

 

“Okay, so Emmett, the big guy, might  _ look  _ like Thor, but he’s the sweetest man alive. I’ve seen him rescue kittens from trees more than once, and honestly, sometimes I dream about hugging him.” 

I must have shot him a look that was a bit strange because he laughed, unselfconsciously and said, “Don’t worry, my girlfriend agrees.”

“Oh yeah, who’s your girlfriend?”

“Angela? She was sitting with you at lunch?” 

Huh. Small towns. “What about the rest of that family?”

“Alice is the most generous person alive, I swear, but I think you’ve already met her? Jasper, the blond guy, is pretty quiet and just reads all the time, and Rosalie looks like she could kill a man and probably already has.” Mike took a breath. “As for Edward…”

“Go on?” It sounded like he was gearing up to tell me something that I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear.

“Look, he’s pretty quiet, so I don’t really know that much about him. However… he’s weird about some girls, you know? I’ve seen him give them really strange looks. It’s almost uncomfortable. I’ve never seen him give anyone the look he gave you, though. You stab him with a pencil or something?”

“I suppose I must have done.” 

“Nice meeting you, anyway, Bella.” Mike said as we reached the gym. “Women’s locker room is through there.” He pointed and then waved goodbye to me.

 

I suffered through a couple of games of dodgeball. Back home, P.E was only mandatory for two years. Here, it was all four. Forks was beginning to seem like my own personal hell on earth.

 

The final bell rang at last and I walked slowly back towards my truck. The rain had stopped, but the wind had picked up, and I wrapped my arms around myself. It was cold and gloomy out, much like my mood.

As I rounded the corner of Building Three, I heard two people arguing. The wind was blowing towards me, so I was lucky enough to recognise the voice of Alice, and a man. I peeked around the edge, and stepped back immediately. It was Edward, the weird guy from Biology.

“-his is a cop-out, Edward, and you know it.” Alice hissed, lips peeling back in what nearly resembled a snarl. There was no sign of the niceness I had seen this morning.

“If I move biology classes then the problem is over.” He argued, and with a jolt I realised they were talking about  _ me _

Huh. I guess I was that repellent after all. It was impossible that this stranger had taken such an immediate, instant dislike to someone he didn’t even know, but yet, this scene was unfolding in front of me.

“Or maybe you could get a handle on yourself for once, Edward. It’s been long enough!” 

“Don’t tell me what to do, Alice.” He grimaced, his face twisting into a snarl. “You’re hardly older than me. You don’t know what I feel.”

“I know you’re making excuses.”

“I’m not mak-”

 

Then Edward stopped talking, because I had decided to announce my presence to the pair. It was cold and windy, and my truck was on the other side of their argument. I had had enough.

“Alice, Edward.” I said, nodding at them both as I walked past.

But I hadn’t been fast enough not to notice how Edward’s back stiffened, and how he’d turned to glare at me with piercing, hate-filled eyes. The glare only lasted a second, but it was enough to chill me more than the wind.

 

When I got to the truck, it was almost the last car in the lot. I sat inside for a while, just staring out the windshield blankly, wondering how one jerk of a man in a school of 400 could ruin my day. But soon I was cold enough to need the heater, so I turned the key and the engine roared to life. I headed back to Charlie's house, trying to fight off a panic attack the whole way there. 

 


	5. Cullen-less.

The next day was better… and worse.

It was better because it wasn’t raining yet, and I had managed to make it to school without being drenched to the skin. It was easier because I knew what to expect with my day. I didn’t feel quite as isolated as yesterday, and at lunch I sat with a big group that included Mike, Eric, Jessica, Angela, and a few others whose names I was beginning to learn. I began to feel like I was treading water, rather than drowning in it.

It was worse because Edward Cullen wasn’t at school at all. I know that made me seem like a maniac, craving the attention of someone who clearly loathed me, but I needed to know  _ why.  _ I needed to know what made the man tick. What was his problem with me?

Unfortunately, I got none of those answers.

 

All morning I was dreading lunch, fearing his bizarre glares. Part of me wanted to confront him, and figure out what his problem was, but then again, I always was more Cowardly Lion than Terminator. 

However, when I walked into the cafeteria with Jessica - eyes sweeping the room for him - I saw that his four siblings were sitting together at the same table and he was nowhere to be seen.

I breathed a sigh of relief. At least I wouldn’t have to put up with his bad temper in Biology, then. Or, at least I hoped so.

 

Alice caught my eye as I passed by their table, and she leaped up to meet me. I nodded at Jessica and said I’d meet her at their usual table soon. 

She seemed confused, but agreed.

 

“Bella!” Alice smiled, her voice lyrical as usual. “How has your day been? I didn’t see you this morning.”

“Good… I think.” I said, not really taking long to consider the question. School was fine. It was always  _ fine.  _ “...Look… did I anger your brother yesterday? The way he looked during biology… it was like he would happily stab me in the back.”

Alice huffed and rolled her eyes. “Don’t even get me started on Edward. He’s melodramatic as hell and had a lot on his mind yesterday. Don’t let it worry you.” 

She placed a hand on my arm and I was shocked by how cold it was. It was like she had just spent a few minutes out in the freezing Forks rain.

“Oh, well… that’s good. I guess?” I said, feeling like I wasn’t quite getting the whole truth, but not being able to do much about it. “I’ve only been here a day, I don’t want to make any enemies this soon.”

 

One of the boys at the table snorted and said something under his breath that sounded a lot like ‘there’s no chance of that’, but I think I might have misheard.

“Sorry?” I said, tilting my head towards him.

“Nothing.” He smiled up at me, but there was something not entirely sincere about it. “You’re Bella, right? I’m Emmett.” 

 

And thus I was led into the strangest round of introductions I had ever had. Emmett seemed nice, but was clearly hiding something, Rosalie looked like she wanted to murder me, but from what I had observed yesterday it seemed like that was a common thing, and Jasper was very quiet. 

In all, they were a bunch of stunningly beautiful people who seemed fairly normal. It was all a bit of a letdown. 

 

“I think your friends want you.” Alice said, and indicated gracefully over at my normal table. My friends (if I could call them that at such an early point) were looking over at me with some bewilderment. 

“Good point.” I agreed. “Nice to meet you all… I guess I’ll see you later?” I waved, mostly to Alice, and left them to it. 

 

When I joined my friends at their table on the other side of the room, they bombarded me with questions as soon as I sat down.

“Why were they talking to you?”

“Were they nice?”

“Do you think Rosalie’s had the same resting bitch face since she was born?”

 

The last question was from Mike, who I raised an eyebrow at. He shrugged and said, “It’s a fair question.”

After I had placated them with a few, “they were fine, I don’t know,”s, lunch went on much as I had expected.

 

I was relieved that I had the desk to myself in Biology, that Edward was absent. I told myself that repeatedly. But I couldn't get rid of the nagging suspicion that I was the reason he wasn't there. It was ridiculous, and egotistical, to think that I could affect anyone that strongly. It was impossible. And yet I couldn't stop worrying that it was true.

 

After school finished, I headed to the local Safeway to get things for dinner. The night before, I had discovered that Charlie couldn’t cook much more than fried eggs and bacon. So, I requested that I be assigned kitchen duty for most of my stay. Charlie had done so much for me already that I really didn’t mind taking on such a simple job.

When I got home, I unloaded all the groceries, stuffing them wherever I could find an empty space. I wrapped potatoes in foil and stuck them in the oven to bake, covered a steak in marinade and balanced it on top of a carton of eggs in the fridge.

Once I was finished with the food preparation, I decided to check my email for the first time in a couple of days.

 

Aside from all of the usual crap - emails from mailing lists and the like - there were two messages from my mother.

Yes, she could be a tad overprotective.

(If that was the right word to use.)

 

The first was from this morning:

 

_ Bella, why haven’t you emailed me? I hope your flight got in alright. Is it raining?  Lots of love, mom. _

 

I sighed. It had been a couple of days since I had seen her, and I supposed I was somewhat in the wrong for not sending her a message as soon as I had arrived.

The second email was more frantic, sent at midday today.

 

_ Isabella, _

_ If I haven’t heard from you by six tonight, I’m calling Charlie. _

 

She certainly wasn’t pleased if she was using my first name. I sighed again and checked the clock. I had an hour or so before six, but I supposed emailing her now was better than putting it off.

 

_ Mom, _

_ Everything is great. Of course, it’s raining, it’s Forks!  _

_ My flight was uneventful, and school is fine, just a little boring. I met some nice people who sit by me at lunch. In fact, I even met someone in the first five minutes that I was there! I ran into her and knocked her over (yeah, typical me, I know) but she’s fine now. She’s one of the nicest people I’ve met so far. _

_ Charlie bought me a truck, can you believe it? It’s old, but really sturdy, and I love it. _

_ I miss you, but I’m not going to write every five minutes. There’s not enough going on here for that. Relax. _

_ Love,   
_ _ Bella xx _

 

After pouring my heart out in the email - carefully omitting everything about the Cullens, of course, I didn’t want her to worry - I decided to Google up on Forks a little bit. I’d lived here before, during the summer, but now I was a resident I decided I should know more about it.

And that’s what I was doing when Charlie came home. I’d lost track of time, so I hurried downstairs to put the steak on, and chop up some vegetables for a salad.

 

“Bella?” My father called out, when he heard me on the stairs.

“Hey, Charlie.” I said, wondering who else he thought could have been in the house.

He was hanging up his gun belt when I got downstairs. “What’s for dinner?” He asked, warily. My mother had never been great at cooking, and she tended to… experiment.

“Steak, potatoes and salad.” I answered, and he looked relieved. 

 

No jibe about rabbit food, eh? That made for a positive start.

 

We ate in silence in the living room. It wasn’t uncomfortable, we just weren’t the most talkative of people. In some ways, we were well-suited for living together.

“So, what do you think of school? Have you made any friends?” he asked, as he was taking seconds.

“Everyone seems pretty nice. There’s a few kids I sit with at lunch - Mike, Jessica, Eric, Angela…” I trailed off. They  _ were  _ pretty nice. (With one glaring exception.)

He looked relieved, “I know a couple of them. Good kids. Believe me, there’s a lot of names I’m happy you  _ didn’t  _ say.” He chortled and munched down on a lettuce leaf.

Huh. Small towns are funny things. “Speaking of… other people…” I started, trying to figure out how to broach the subject, “...the Cullens. I’ve made friends, I guess, with Alice Cullen, and I was wondering what you knew about the rest of them?” 

“Alice?” He brightened. “She’s lovely. She hangs out with her brother a lot, at the diner down the road. He works there… Emmett, I think it is?”

He was really just telling me stuff I already knew. “Those two seem alright. What about the others?”

He chewed thoughtfully. “I don’t know much about the other two boys, they seem to keep to themselves. Rosalie interns with her mother, at the hospital, and both of their parents are doctors.” 

“You speak pretty highly of them.”

“From what I’ve seen -” Charlie began, “they’re well-behaved and polite. Keep to themselves, don’t cause any trouble. They moved here a couple of years ago and became a benefit to this town. That’s more than I can say about some of the people who have lived in this place for generations.”

It was the longest speech I’d ever heard Charlie make. Clearly he got along well with at least  _ some  _ of the Cullens.

I backpedaled, “they seem nice enough to me. They’re all… very attractive.” It was hard not to notice that, at least.

“You should see their parents.” Charlie said, laughing. “They both look like they belong in a hospital sitcom. They’re lucky they’re married.”

 

We finished eating in silence, and then I did the dishes by hand - no dishwasher. As much as I loved Charlie, doing both of our dishes by myself wasn’t something I could see becoming a tradition.  

That night, the wind had died down and it was finally quiet. I fell asleep, exhausted.

 

My first week in Forks passed uneventfully. Edward Cullen didn’t come back to school, so I was left alone in Biology to ponder about how I had offended him so much in the first place.

It was annoying that I was spending so much time thinking about him, and I hated it.

 

Mike was organising a trip to La Push in a couple of weeks and I agreed to go, mostly out of politeness. Beaches should be hot and dry, and I had a feeling that La Push wouldn’t be.

 

Alice moved into my Drama class - an elective that I unfortunately had to take (it was that or Shop, and I was terrible at Shop) - so we got to sit together while the teacher rambled on about Broadway and did very little teaching. I didn’t really mind, I wasn’t exactly an actor, and it gave me time to observe the other woman more closely.

Alice was beautiful, and I know it wasn’t just me who noticed that. She was graceful to the point of lunacy - I saw someone run right into her by accident and she brushed it off without stumbling. I felt insignificant next to her, and I’m sure I wasn’t the only one.

 

I investigated the town over the weekend, discovered the pitifully sparse bookshop, and vowed to take a trip to Olympia or Seattle as soon as I was able. I shuddered at the thought of the truck’s gas mileage, though. 

The rain stayed soft over the weekend, so I was able to sleep well. 


	6. Cullen-More

People greeted me in the parking lot on Monday morning, which I didn’t expect. I didn’t remember  _ all  _ of their names, but I knew enough to get by. In English, we had a quiz on some of Dylan Thomas’ poems. It was straightforward, and simple.

In all, I was feeling pretty comfortable. Things were going well.

I walked to the cafeteria by myself at lunch. Jessica had vanished to hand in an assignment, and it had begun to snow outside. I wasn’t really a fan of snow. It was wet, and cold, and it got everywhere.

I supposed I preferred it to rain, though.

 

I glanced towards the corner table (the Cullen table, as I had dubbed it) as I entered the cafeteria, and froze. There were  _ five  _ people at the table. 

Damn. Guess I wouldn’t be living fast and fancy-free in Biology any more.

I felt sick to my stomach. What would I do now? I had felt so comfortable on my own in that class, and now I would have to put up with his moods. I took a deep breath.  _ No.  _ I could control my own problems. I would have to. If it got really bad, I could always switch classes. I had control of this situation.

 

Still feeling queasy, I opted just for a ginger ale.

 

“You pregnant?” Mike joked, as I sat down at my usual table.

I rolled my eyes at him. “Yeah, I just got pregnant this weekend. I’m birthing the next Jesus.” I hadn’t exactly meant to let on how much experience I had had sexually (read: not much), but sometimes these things just slip out. “Cullen’s back. You think he’ll still hate me today?”

“Hope not.” Mike said, cheerily. “We have a lab today. You’ll have to work together.”

Great. His words made  _ everything  _ better.

I kept my head down as everyone chatted around me, trying to talk myself out of a panic attack. I was in control here. I wasn’t going to let him get to me. I was in control here. I wasn’t going to let -

 

“Edward Cullen is staring at you.” Jessica giggled in my ear and broke me out of my spiral towards hyperventilation.

“He doesn’t look angry, does he?” I couldn’t help asking, even though I didn’t really want to know.

"No, should he?”

“I don’t think he likes me.” I took another sip of my ginger ale and put my head down onto the table, relishing in its cool surface. I could do this.  _ I could do this.  _

“I don’t think he likes anyone. He’s a bit of an ass.”

“Stop looking at him.” I hissed, willing to back up my plea with violence if necessary.

She snickered, but did as I’d asked. 

 

For the rest of lunch, I sipped at my ginger ale and tried not to suffer too loudly. This was ridiculous. I was getting worked up over nothing. 

(At least, that was what I told myself.)

 

My table was still empty when I got to Biology. The teacher was walking around, distributing a microscope and a box of slides to each table. I kept my eyes on my notebook, and fiddled idly with one of the pages. 

And so, it was to my  _ complete  _ surprise when I heard a musical voice beside me say, “Hello.”

 

Needless to say, I was a little bit surprised and probably would have jumped out of my chair had I not been so hunched over on the table.

I looked up and  _ he  _ was speaking to me. His dazzling face was friendly, almost open, but his eyes were careful.

 

“Wow, are you speaking to me now?” I said, more than a little bit irate. After his behaviour last week he was just going to come out and pretend it didn’t happen? “Should I bow? Offer a sacrifice?”

I tend to get a tad… catty… when I’m anxious.

 

His flawless face lost some of its poised openness and he wrinkled an eyebrow at me. Slowly, he said, “I’m sorry for my behaviour last week. I was…. Unwell. Can we put it behind us?”

I wasn’t happy, but I also wasn’t in the mood to start an argument just before we had to do a lab together. “Fine. I’m Bella. I take it you’re Edward?”

“Yes. I’ve been away with… my illness. I didn’t miss much, did I?” His gaze was almost friendly, now that we had gotten the touchy introduction-based stuff out of the way.

“Not much unless you really like introductory biology.” I huffed. He did look better, come to think of it. The dark circles under his eyes were gone, and he looked less like he was about to drop dead on the spot.

“Well, I don’t, so I guess you’re in luck.” He pursed his lips and fidgeted with the microscope as our teacher started the class.

 

The slides in the box were out of order. We would have to separate the slides of onion root tip into different phases of mitosis and label them accordingly. We weren’t supposed to use our books. 

“Ladies first?” Edward asked, pushing the box of slides towards me. His smile was so nice, I was taken aback for a moment. On a whole, I’m not really into men, but I could  _ probably  _ make an exception for Edward.

(Aside from the whole ‘death stare’ thing. That needed something thinking about.)

“Sure.” I’d already done this lab at my old school, and I knew what I was looking for. “Prophase.”

“Mind if I look?” He asked, but had already taken the microscope away before I had a chance to agree.

I watched him, staggered for a instant, as he examined the slide for an even shorter time than I had.

 “Prophase.” He agreed, and wrote it on our worksheet. His handwriting was clear, and elegant. I wasn’t especially keen on tainting the page with my ugly scrawl after that.

 

We continued on our merry way for the rest of the class, and finished well before anyone else. We didn’t talk, but the silence wasn’t uncomfortable. If anything, it was pregnant. Something had to give.

“Why’d you move here?” He asked, without any sort of prompting.

“Mother got remarried. House back home was a little small. They deserved some space.” I said, shortly. It wasn’t a complex story. There was nothing in it that would plumb my inner depths, or so to speak. 

“So she sent you here.” He said, as an assumption, rather than a question.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “I sent myself.” 

“Why? It’s clear that you’re unhappy here.” He continued to stare at me with obvious curiosity, and and I frowned.

“Why, because it’s a bit rainy? Here is fine. Everywhere is fine. I have no problem with Forks.” I argued, wondering where exactly he got off. He was making a ton of accusations about my life without hardly even knowing me.

His gaze appraised me. “You put on a good show,” he said slowly, “But I’d be willing to bet you’re suffering more than you let anyone see.”

Annoyance, slow and heavy, curled in my stomach. He wasn’t exactly  _ wrong,  _ but he was jumping to a lot of conclusions for someone who had only started talking to me in the last twenty minutes. It was arrogant, and I didn’t like it.

“Am I annoying you?” He asked, sounding amused.

I glanced at him without meaning to, and told the truth again. “Yes. I don’t really appreciate your questioning.”

He sighed and said, “Fair enough. I’ll lay off. Just wanted to know about the new girl.”

 

The teacher called the class to order then, and I turned with relief to listen. I was in disbelief that I'd just explained my dreary life to this bizarre, beautiful boy. He'd seemed engrossed in our conversation, but now I could see, from the corner of my eye, that he was leaning away from me again, his hands gripping the edge of the table with unmistakable tension. It was odd, how he’d somehow made me feel bad for wanting him to stop talking. I didn’t understand it. It made me nervous.

When the bell finally rang, Edward rushed as swiftly and as gracefully from the room as he had last Monday. And, like last Monday, I stared after him in bemusement. If someone knew what was going on in my life, I’d be happy if they told me.

 

I nearly hit Edward’s car with my truck on the way out of the car park after school. I considered that a win. If my truck hit that Volvo, my truck would be left standing. The thought gave me a fair amount of pleasure.


	7. Snowedover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “So, Bella,” he said, in a remarkably appealing voice, “how are you feeling?”
> 
> If I was a weaker woman, I probably would have commented on how honey-like his voice was, and how warm it made me feel inside. Instead, I chalked that up to the probable concussion and instead grinned like an idiot. “Head hurts. To be expected, I suppose.”

Something was wrong when I opened my eyes the next morning. I peeked out the window and groaned. A fine layer of snow had fallen.

 

If I was a weaker person, I probably would have begged off school for the day.

However, I wasn’t, and something inside of me was excited to see the Cullens again. I couldn’t fake a flu in the first two weeks of me being at the school, anyway. I didn’t think Charlie was  _ that  _ unobservant.

 

It took every ounce of my concentration to get down the driveway alive. I nearly slipped and fell more than once, but managed to save myself by clutching onto the trees near the side of the path. Clearly, today was going to be hellish.

 

My truck seemed to have no problem with the black ice that covered the roads. I drove very slowly, though, not wanting to carve a path of destruction through Main Street. Forks, though I wasn’t fond of it, didn’t deserve that.

When I got out of my truck at school, I saw why I'd had so little trouble. Something silver caught my eye, and I walked to the back of the truck — carefully holding the side for support — to examine my tires. There were thin chains crisscrossed in diamond shapes around them. Charlie had gotten up who knows how early to put snow chains on my truck. My throat suddenly felt tight. I wasn't used to being taken care of, and Charlie's unspoken concern caught me by surprise. I wished I had been awake to see him off to work. I’d make extra effort to do so the next morning.

I had grabbed my backpack and was making my way across the road to the school buildings when I slipped on the ice. I was clambering onto my hands and knees to stand when I heard an odd sound.

 

It was a high-pitched screech, and it was fast becoming painfully loud. I looked up, startled.

Alice Cullen was standing four cars down from me, staring in horror. Her face stood out from a sea of faces, all frozen in shock. But what was of more immediate importance was the dark blue van that was skidding, tires locked, wildly across the ice of the parking lot. It was going to hit me and I didn’t have time to get out of the way. I didn’t even have time to close my eyes.

Something hit me, hard, but not from the direction I was expecting. My head cracked hard against the icy ground, and something solid and cool was pinning me to the ground. I couldn’t see – I couldn’t –

In the distance, I heard the van go spinning past me. It all seemed very far away.

It was completely silent for a moment before I heard the screaming began. It was piercing and loud and it made my head hurt.

But more clearly than anything, I could hear Alice’s voice, tense and low in my ear. “Bella? Can you hear me?”

My vision was blurring in and out but I could just make out a face staring down at me from above. Short, pixie hair… It was her.

“I think so.”

I sat up, the world still wavering around me. Something wasn’t right, but I couldn’t put my finger on what. My head was throbbing. I put my hand to my left temple and it came away bloody.

 

“How’d you get over here so fast?” I slurred, pretty sure that I wasn’t making much sense. I  _ had  _ seen her a few cars away. I  _ had. _

“I was –“ Alice began, face carefully considering.

And then she was drowned out by a crowd of people, shouting at each other, shouting at us.

“Don’t move!” One instructed.

“We’ve called an ambulance. Stay where you are, Bella.” Another added, voice calm and collected. “Don’t worry.”

“But it’s cold.” I moaned, mostly to Alice, head still throbbing like a bitch.

“Just stay where you are.” She pressed a cold hand to my forehead and it did a little bit to remove the pain. “Please, Bella.”

“I’m sure I saw you.” I insisted, wanting to stand up to confront her fully. Something wasn’t right. “I’m sure.”

“Bella, just leave it.” Her expression softened. “I can’t… I can’t say anything now. Please. Just for now, leave it.”

Something in her voice made me pause. She was pleading with me, but in the nicest way. I didn’t want to let up, wanted to make her tell me how she had magically teleported(???) such a short distance in so many seconds, but I didn’t have the strength.

“Thanks for saving me,” I said, and let my eyes slip closed.

Things seemed to happen very quickly after that. Between bouts of unconsciousness, I saw the interior of an ambulance, some worried faces, and a bandage.

When I woke up on a bed in the emergency room, I was almost relieved.

Tyler Crowley was in the bed next to me. I recognised him from my Government class, and he did not look great, covered in bandages and very bruised. I supposed I didn’t either, but at least I couldn’t see myself.

I guessed he had been the driver of the van. I hoped he was alright. I didn’t feel wonderful, but I also didn’t feel too bandaged up.

Charlie was snoring in a chair at the foot of my bed and I felt immediately bad for dragging him away from his job for what was  _ probably  _ a fairly minor head injury. At this rate, I probably would have been better if I had just faked the flu this morning.

Drumming my fingers on the edge of the sheets, I pondered for a few moments. Would I have to stay overnight? Would it be worth making a break for it?

Then a doctor walked into the ward and my mouth fell open. He was young, he was blond… and he could give any famous movie star a run for their money. He was pale though, with the same dark circles under his eyes that the rest of the Cullens seemed to have. From Charlie’s description, I guessed he was Carlisle.

“So, Bella,” he said, in a remarkably appealing voice, “how are you feeling?”

If I was a weaker woman, I probably would have commented on how honey-like his voice was, and how warm it made me feel inside. Instead, I chalked that up to the probable concussion and instead grinned like an idiot. “Head hurts. To be expected, I suppose.”

Charlie snuffled in his sleep from his position in the chair, but didn’t move.

“Pretty much.” Carlisle agreed. “From the x-rays, looks like you have a concussion. How much do you remember?”

“Car nearly hit me, head hit ground.”

“From what I’ve heard from Alice, that sounds fairly accurate.” He got a penlight from his jacket pocket and aimed it towards my face. “Follow the light for me, if you please.”

I dutifully did as I was told. The light was making my eyes water a bit, but I wasn’t going to say that out loud. “Can I go home? Not super keen on leaving him to cook dinner for himself.” I indicated at Charlie with a lift of my hand.

“Well, you’ve got a minor head wound, and a slight concussion, but provided someone sticks around with you at home for the next 24 hours and keeps an eye on your condition, I’m happy to let you go.”

It was then that I remembered that the day had barely started. Dammit. I didn’t want to keep Charlie at home, but I knew he would insist. Sometimes I hate my body and my utter lack of balance. “Great. Thanks, Dr Cullen.”

“Take some Tylenol for the pain.” He instructed, and signed off my chart with a flourish. “Come back if you feel dizzy or have any eye trouble, okay?”

“Sure.” I scooted to the edge of the bed and looked at the ground warily. If I fell, I’d never live it down. “By the way, was he driving the van?” I indicated at Tyler with a shake of my head which I immediately regretted.

 

“Yes.” Carlisle looked over at the boy. “He’ll be fine. Some cuts and bruises, and a concussion, but nothing too major.”

“Great.” That was one thing that I didn’t have to worry about.

“Nice to meet you, Bella. I’ll show you two out.” Carlisle gave me a hand off the bed. In an uncharacteristically good move (the first one of the day), I managed not to fall flat on my face. Fetching my backpack, I gently shook Charlie awake.

“Whazzat?” He grunted, as he woke. As he focussed on me, he seemed surprised to see me standing up. “Bells, how are you feeling?”

“Fine, Dad.”

He heaved himself out of the chair. “That true, Doc?”

After Carlisle gave him the overview that I had gotten, and Charlie seemed fairly mollified, he led us out towards the front door of the hospital. Unfortunately, it seemed like most of Forks was waiting out in the living room.

Damn. Life just didn’t get any better, did it?


	8. Go Ask Alice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Alice, you saved my life.” I said, “I am so grateful. A little concussion never hurt anyone.” (Probably very untrue, but I was trying to be nice.)

 

I spent the rest of the morning sitting in bed and feeling sorry for myself. It wasn’t hard to do - my head was throbbing - but I wanted to wallow in it anyway. Nearly dying in a car crash in my second week at Forks High School was certainly a way to make a name for myself, and I had no idea how everyone would react when I got back to school the next day.

Hopefully not excessively. The crowd in the hospital’s waiting room had been enough. Annoyingly, Alice had scarpered, but the pile of my new friends had been more than enough for me.

Charlie had gone back to work after an hour or so, clearly convinced I wasn’t going to die on him. “Don’t go outside.” He said, pointing a finger at me in a way I supposed was supposed to be stern but really wasn’t, “And call your mother.”

He’d phoned her just after I had gone into hospital, which wasn’t the brightest thing in the world. When I called her she was in hysterics, of course. I had to tell her I felt fine at least thirty times before she would calm down. She begged me to come home — which I politely declined — but her pleas were easier to resist than I would have thought.

Honestly, despite the head trauma, Forks was starting to grow on me.

 

There was a knock on the door just after two. I had struggled downstairs, head still hurting, and was in the midst of a turkey salad sandwich when I heard it.

Odd. Most people would be still at school or work.

I walked down the hallway, sandwich in one hand, and opened the door.

Clearly, Alice Cullen wasn’t ‘most people’.

 

“Can I come in?” She asked, seemingly unphased by the heavy snow falling outside. She was carrying a purse over one shoulder. It was small and fashionable. Much like her.

“Sure.” I said, not hesitating for a moment. “Shouldn’t you be in class?”

“Shouldn’t you be in bed?” Alice replied with a pointed look at the bandage over my temple. She stepped inside and looked around in a way that suggested she had been here before.

“Being in bed is boring. At least I’m not bunking off.” I shut the door behind her. “Come on.” I led her up to my room. I had my sandwich, so it wasn’t like I was going to sit in the living room all afternoon. “How’d you know where I live, anyway?”

“I have my ways.” She said mysteriously. The way she was following me up the steps seemed like she was ready to catch me at any moment.

 

Pssh, like she could. She was  _ tiny! _

 

“You’re very evasive, aren’t you?” I asked, settling back down on my bed. I placed the turkey sandwich on a plate that was still sitting on my nightstand from breakfast.

“I’m not evasive, just… careful.” Alice looked at odds as to where to sit, so I waved at the end of my bed a flourish.

She sat carefully, like she wasn’t trying to disturb anything important.

“Sure, sure.” I put my palms on my crossed knees and looked at her. “So, why do I deserve this visit?”

She hesitated for a moment. “I wanted to ask you for your… discretion… regarding certain things that happened this morning.”

“You mean you saving my life with the power of teleports or something like that?” I asked, fully aware that I sounded completely mad. Still, I  _ knew  _ I hadn’t been seeing things.

“...Something like that.” Alice sighed and pondered for a moment. “...Look, Bella, I probably shouldn’t have saved your life.”

“What?” Sore as I was, that one did sting a little.

"It’s not good… practise… doing that sort of thing. It’s dangerous. For me. _And_ for you. Do you understand?” She looked like she would rather be anywhere else than having this conversation. “Please, Bella.”

And try as I might, with that face looking at me, I could hardly say no. I shrugged. “Who would I tell? They’d just think I was delirious from the knock on the head.”

She reached out towards the bandage on my head, biting her lip, but then stopped herself. “May I?”

“Go ahead.” I had nothing more to lose.

Alice put her hand on my forehead and somehow, the coolness of her palm eased the pain a little. “You should take some Tylenol and go to bed.” She said, almost wistfully. “It’ll hurt less if you do.”

“Can’t sleep unless someone is around to wake me up.” I heaved another great sigh. “Another one of the perks of having a very thin skull. Your dad(?) said that I need to be woken up on the hour, cause of the head trauma.”

“Yes…” She winced, looking almost apologetic. “Sorry about that.”

“Alice, you saved my life.” I said, “I am so grateful. A little concussion never hurt anyone.” (Probably very untrue, but I was trying to be  _ nice. _ )

“That seems like a lie.” She said, with a wry smile. “Since I did this to you, want me to hang around? I can wake you up when you need." 

“Won’t you get bored?” 

“I’ll find a book to read or something.” She replied. “Don’t worry about me.”

“Well, alright.” I shrugged, clearly past the point of caring much about letting almost-strangers into my home. I had one hell of a headache, dammit. “There’s food in the fridge n such, you know.”

“Believe me, I won’t need it” She smirked, and patted me gently on the temple. “Go to sleep, Bella.”

 

So as she settled into my chair, I took some Tylenol and got into bed. In hindsight, it probably wasn’t the brightest idea to just let a stranger roam around my room while I slept, but Alice was  _ nice.  _ I’d weather the inevitable Charlie-storm when it came.

 

As I fell asleep I groggily remembered one thing. I had forgotten to ask her  _ how  _ exactly she had saved my life. Darn. Guess it was a question I’d have to leave for another day.


	9. Well, Bloody Hell.

Alice was strange, I had to admit, and judging by the rest of her family, I presumed they were too. There was something  _ off  _ about them. They were too perfect, too poised, and it made me uncomfortable. I had to find out what was going on with them, but I had no idea where to start.

 

That night, I  _ dreamed  _ of Alice. In my dream it was very dark, and what dim light there was seemed to be radiating from Alice’s skin. I couldn't see her face, just her back as he walked away from me, leaving me in the blackness. No matter how fast I ran, I couldn't catch up to her; no matter how loud I called, she never turned. 

 

I slept fitfully, and woke the next morning to a dry throat and the steady thrum of a headache, but otherwise no ill effects.

 

The weeks that followed my accident were uneasy, tense, and embarrassing.

 

I found myself followed around by Tyler for the rest of that week, who was desperately trying to make amends. The man probably would have sacrificed himself to the gods for penance if I’d asked, he was  _ that  _ apologetic.

 

After the singular afternoon I’d spent with Alice, the Cullens wouldn’t even glance my way any more. I bumped into Alice occasionally in the hallway, and in Drama class, but she wouldn’t do anything more than give me a cursory smile, and nod. 

 

The sudden loss of contact - of someone who I was hoping to have as a friend - was upsetting.

 

Even Edward wouldn’t glance my way any more. In class he’d sit as far away from me as possible, and I’d see his hands balled up into fists against his lap.

 

It made me worried. It made me uncomfortable. I was getting to the point where I wanted to switch lab partners because of the behaviour of mine. Edward seemed… unpredictable. Dangerous. I didn’t like it.

 

Classes came and went. The girls choice spring dance was looming on the horizon and all my friends were planning to go. As I tended to lie on the more ‘introvert’ side of things, I figured I’d skip it. Mike and Angela, being basically engaged to each other, were going together, and all of my other friends had people they were planning to ask.

 

I was relieved that it was girls choice, so no-one would ask me. 

Or at least, that was what I  _ thought. _

 

I was startled after school one day when I saw a tall, dark figure leaning against my truck until I realised it was just Eric. 

  
“Hey Eric.” I called.

 

“‘Sup, Bella.”

 

“What’s going on?” I asked, as I was unlocking the door. I wasn’t really paying attention to his tone so I was taken aback by his next words.

 

“I was wondering if you wanted to come to the spring dance with me?”

 

Now  _ that  _ was a surprise. I turned to face him. “Thought it was girls choice?”

 

“Well, yeah.” He replied, “But, you know, my boyfriend’s out of town that weekend and you seemed like you weren’t going with anyone. We could go as friends?”

 

Boyfriend? Huh. I’d have to ask him about that later. “Sorry,” I said, trying to make my smile genuine, “But I’m going up to Seattle that weekend. You’re welcome to come with, but I’m just going bookstore hunting.”

 

“Think I’ll pass.” He said, looking repulsed at the very thought. Eric wasn’t exactly a bookstore kind of guy. “Maybe next time, eh?”

 

“Maybe next time you should go with your boyfriend?” I smirked, opening my door and clambering into the truck. 

 

He rolled his eyes, looking about as exasperated as I’d ever seen him. “He’s a year older than us and he doesn’t really like high school stuff, you know? Truth be told, I think he’s just making excuses to be out of town that weekend.”

 

“Huh.” Him and me both. “Sorry I couldn’t have been of more help?” 

 

“No worries, Bells.” He shook it off with a wave of his hand. “I’ll find someone to go with. Maybe Jess…?”

 

“Maybe!” 

 

“See you then.” He wandered off towards his own car.

 

I heard a low chuckle and looked behind me to see Edward walking past my truck and heading towards his own car. Seriously? Where did he get off? Prat.

 

I slammed my door and contemplated running him over. It probably wouldn’t work, if he shared the same  _ talents  _ as his sister, but it was an interesting thought.

 

Unfortunately, my homicidal musings stopped me from noticing Tyler’s approach towards my truck and I was startled when he knocked on my window.

 

I wound it down and smiled at him. “Tyler?”

 

“Hey Bella, I was wondering if I could ask you something?” He sounded like he was trying to walk on eggshells and I think I had an inkling as to why.

 

I sighed and tried to keep the exasperation out of my tone. “Go on…”

 

“I was wondering if you could ask me to the spring dance?”

 

The way that he had managed to phrase it was truly wonderful. “I’m not going to be in town, Tyler.” My voice sounded a little sharp, but it wasn’t exactly my fault that Edward Cullen found my affairs funny enough to chortle at. “I’m in Seattle that weekend.”

 

“Oh.” He slumped. “Fair enough. There’s always prom?”

 

I didn’t have the energy to tell him that I probably wouldn’t be going to that one either. “Sure. Maybe. Bye Tyler.”

 

“Bye…” He wandered off, still looking dejected. 

 

I started to roll my window up, but paused and yelled after him, “I heard Eric’s looking for someone to go with, so you could try there!”

 

It’d probably rankle him a bit, but to be fair, he had nearly hit me with his truck. 

  
  


I decided to make chicken enchiladas for dinner, so the preparation and cooking of those took up most of the time before Charlie got home. I received a phone call - from Jessica, who said that she would be going to the dance with Eric  _ as a friend,  _ and Tyler would be tagging along with them - and managed to fend off her pleas for me to come. I was going book shopping, dammit!

 

Charlie seemed suspicious when he came home and smelled the green peppers. But he was a cop, even if just a small-town cop, so he was brave enough to take the first bite. He seemed to like it. It was fun to watch as he slowly began trusting me in the kitchen. 

 

"Dad?" I asked when he was almost done. 

 

"Yeah, Bella?" 

 

"I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to Seattle for the day a week from Saturday… if that's okay?" I didn't want to ask permission — it set a bad precedent — but I felt rude, so I tacked it on at the end. 

 

"Why?" He sounded surprised, but not openly dismissive, which I took as a good sign.

 

"Well, I wanted to get few books — the library here is pretty limited — and maybe look at some clothes." I had more money than I was used to having, since, thanks to Charlie, I hadn't had to pay for a car. Not that the truck didn't cost me quite a bit in the gas department. 

 

"That truck probably doesn't get very good gas mileage," he said, echoing my thoughts. 

 

"I know, I'll stop in Montesano and Olympia — and Tacoma if I have to." 

 

"Are you going all by yourself?" he asked, and I couldn't tell if he was suspicious I had a secret lover or just worried about car trouble. 

 

"Yes." 

 

"Seattle is a big city — you could get lost," he fretted. 

 

"Dad, Phoenix is five times the size of Seattle — and I can read a map, don't worry about it." 

 

"Do you want me to come with you?" 

 

I tried to be crafty as I hid my horror. "That's all right, Dad, I'll probably just be in dressing rooms and bookstores all day — very boring."

 

"Oh, okay." The thought of sitting in women's clothing stores for any period of time immediately put him off. 

 

"Thanks." I smiled at him, pleased that the discussion had gone so well. I didn’t really expect him to say  _ no,  _ but I was happy that we had sorted things out. 

 

"Will you be back in time for the dance?" Grrr. Only in a town this small would a father know when the high school dances were. 

 

"No — I don't dance, Dad." He, of all people, should understand that — I didn't get my balance problems from my mother. If there was something worse than ‘two left feet’ I had that.

 

He did understand. "Oh, that's right," he realized. “Fair enough. Just… be safe, Bells.”

 

My heart panged at that. The man was  _ trying,  _ and I loved him for it. “I will, Charlie. Don’t worry.”

  
  


The next morning I parked as far away from Edward Cullen’s Volvo as I could. I didn’t want to be led into the path of temptation by proximity alone. Getting out of the cab, I fumbled on the footwell and fell into a puddle, dampening my shoes and the bottom of my jeans. Damn. I’d be muddy all day.

 

As I looked up, I found that Edward Cullen was standing directly in front of me, offering a hand. 

 

Great. Now I’d have to deal with his attitude after  _ weeks  _ of him not even acknowledging me in class. “I take it you possess the same teleporting powers as your sister?” I said, and ignored the hand up. 

 

A flash of irritation crossed his face, but it was replaced almost immediately by a  careful smile. “Something like that. You’re all muddy.” 

 

“Yes, thanks for the heads up.” I said, wiping my muddy hands on a napkin inside the cab, and then shutting the door and locking it. “Is there are a reason you’re here? Trying to irritate me to death since Tyler’s van didn’t do it?”

 

I didn’t mean to be quite as sharp as I was, but he hadn’t talked to me for  _ weeks.  _

 

Anger flashed in his tawny eyes. His lips pressed into a hard line, all signs of humor gone. "Bella, you are utterly absurd," he said, his low voice cold. 

 

My palms tingled — I wanted so badly to hit something. I was surprised at myself. I was usually a nonviolent person. I turned my back and started to walk away. I didn’t have time for his faux-concern. I seriously debated the whole ‘switching lab partners’ thing again as I walked.

 

"Wait," he called. I kept walking, sloshing angrily through the rain. But he was next to me, easily keeping pace. 

 

"I'm sorry, that was rude," he said as we walked. I ignored him. "I'm not saying it isn't true," he continued, "but it was rude to say it, anyway." 

 

"Why won't you leave me alone?" I grumbled. 

 

"I wanted to ask you something, but you sidetracked me," he chuckled. 

 

Was everything I did a source of mirth to him? Honestly, he was driving me  _ mad. _

“What do you want to ask me?”

 

"I was wondering if, a week from Saturday — you know, the day of the spring dance —" 

 

"Are you trying to be funny?" I interrupted him, wheeling toward him. My face got drenched as I looked up at his expression. Was he seriously going to -

His eyes were wickedly amused. "Will you please allow me to finish?" 

 

I bit my lip and clasped my hands together, interlocking my fingers, so I couldn't do anything rash. The man was a  _ constant  _ annoyance.

 

"I heard you say you were going to Seattle that day, and I was wondering if you wanted a ride." 

 

Well. That was unexpected. Totally out of line, because I’d had one proper conversation with him since I’d started at the school, but certainly unexpected. I said as much to him.

 

“That’s fair.” He said, pursing his lips, “But I was planning to head to Seattle that weekend anyway, and I’m not sure if your truck can make the trip.” 

 

“We’ve talked  _ once  _ in seven weeks and you’re asking me to spend several hours alone in a car with you?” I said, choosing to ignore the comment about my truck, lest I did something rash. “No offence, Edward, but I’ll pass.”

 

“But can your truck make it there on one tank of gas?" He matched my pace again. 

 

"I don't see how that is any of your business." Stupid, shiny, attractive, Volvo owner. 

 

"The wasting of finite resources is everyone's business." 

 

"Honestly, Edward." I felt a thrill go through me as I said his name, and I hated it. He was an  _ ass.  _ An attractive one, with a voice like honey, but still one hell of an ass. "I can't keep up with you. One week you talk to me, the next you don’t. Develop a sense of consistency and then maybe we’ll talk." 

 

And with that, I swanned off to class, completely forgetting the fact that I had Biology with him later in the day.

 

At lunchtime, I ruminated with my friends over the muddy morning and Edward’s attitude, and tried to ignore the intense stare he was giving me across the lunchroom. If I was honest, it was making me uncomfortable. I needed to do something about it, but I needed to finish the school day first.

 

We planned to head out to La Push that weekend, and to my surprise, I was actually looking forward to it. Somewhere that Edward wasn’t in… Yes, La Push would do for a change of scenery.

 

Edward wasn’t there in Biology, but something worse had taken his place.

 

Our teacher had placed small boxes on each of our lab tables. They contained plastic gloves, a white card with four squares marked on it, something that looked like a toothless hair pick, and a small piece of blue plastic.

 

Unfortunately I knew exactly what the kit was for. 

 

Our teacher said, “Okay everyone, there’s a blood drive in Port Angeles next week and I thought you should all know your blood type.” He sounded proud of himself, but it was hard to hear over the ringing in my ears.

 

Blood and I don’t mix. Having a period is bad enough, but having to stab myself with something sharp? No way. Clammy moisture broke out across my forehead. 

 

Our teacher demonstrated on Mike, but I couldn’t see because I put my head down on the table, trying to stop my stomach from heaving.

 

All around me I could hear squeals, complaints, and giggles as my classmates skewered their fingers. I breathed slowly in and out through my mouth. 

 

"Bella, are you alright?" My teacher asked. His voice was close to my head, and it sounded alarmed. 

 

"I already know my blood type, sir," I said in a weak voice. I was afraid to raise my head. 

 

"Are you feeling faint?" 

 

"Yes, sir," I muttered, wishing that my phobia wasn’t quite so apparent.

 

"Can someone take Bella to the nurse, please?" he called. 

 

I didn't have to look up to know that it would be Mike who volunteered. Sometimes the man could be a little  _ too  _ eager.

 

He towed me across campus, but let me sit down on a damp bench when I asked. “Keep your hand in your pocket,” I warned, dropping my head down onto the seat.

 

He nodded. “Damn, Bells, I thought  _ I  _ was bad at this sort of thing.”

 

“Shut up.” I groaned. The nausea was beginning to subside - the cool air helped - but I wasn’t feeling great.

 

"Bella?" a different voice called from the distance. 

 

No! Please let me be imagining that horribly familiar voice. I’m not religious, but I prayed to every deity in that moment that it wasn’t who I thought it would be.

 

"What's wrong — is she hurt?" His voice was closer now, and he sounded upset. 

I wasn't imagining it. I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping to die. Or, at the very least, not to throw up. 

 

Mike seemed fairly composed. "She's not feeling well. Blood testing in class. I’ve got this, man." 

 

"Bella." Edward's voice was right beside me, relieved now. "Can you hear me?" 

 

"No," I groaned. "Go away." 

 

He chuckled, because apparently everything I did was a constant source of mirth to him.

 

"I was taking her to the nurse," Mike explained in a defensive tone, "but she wouldn't go any farther." 

 

"I'll take her," Edward said. I could hear the smile in his voice. "You can go back to class."

 

“No you won’t.” I sat up, ignoring how the world swung around me as I did so. “I’m taking myself to the nurse. Thanks for your help Mike, but I can make it by myself.” 

 

Mike looked unsure, while Edward just looked irritated. Good. 

 

“You sure, Bells?” Mike asked, laying a careful hand on my arm.

 

“Yeah. I’m good.” I pushed myself to my feet. The nausea rolled in my gut, but I managed to keep everything down. “Thanks, Mike. Bye Edward.”

 

I nodded at both of them, and headed towards the nurse, feeling terrible but not wanting to show it. I could hear Edward following me, but I wasn’t going to look back.

 

“You’re being ridiculous.” He said, clearly quite amused.

 

I ignored him, trying to keep the contents of my stomach still in my stomach. Ass. 

 

“I could carry you.”

 

Who did he think I was? Some sort of fainting maiden? Come on.

(I mean, I know I’d done the fainting thing, but I had perfectly functional legs.)

 

Thankfully, I soon made it to the nurse’s office and explained my predicament, and he was forced to remain outside. 

 

“I’ll get you some ice for your forehead, dear.” The nurse said, and let me lie down on a cot to recover.

 

I didn’t feel great, but I could have felt worse. At least I wasn’t stuck with Edward.

 

I must have dozed off, because when I was woken by the nurse later, it was past three and school was over.

 

“I excused you from your Gym class, dear.” The nurse said, looking thoughtful. “You looked like you could have used the sleep.”

 

I thanked her. I hadn’t been sleeping well lately. Both Alice and Edward had been in my dreams and I had been finding it hard to sleep the night through. All my nausea had gone and I was thankful.

 

Besides, I had to go and face some of the Cullens. The nap would help me focus.

I was going to find out what Edward’s problem was.

 

A trip to the diner where Emmett worked was in order. Hopefully  _ he’d  _ talk to me. Mike had said he had a soft spot, after all.   
  
  
  
  



	10. emmett and the diner

 

Forks Diner was off the main road, garishly lit with a neon sign outside, and wooden. I parked the truck up outside, mindful of the long-haul goods trucks scattered about the parking lot, and headed inside.

 

It was like stepping back in time.  

 

The room was a sea of plaid. On one wall, a faded dartboard, the other, a large menu. The diner did look like it was tipping over into the ‘bar’ side of things pretty darn quick, but I didn’t feel immediately unwelcome as I stepped inside. 

 

It almost smelt  _ homely. _

 

I could see Emmett behind the counter. The diner wasn’t especially full, it having just gone half-three and all, so he didn’t look too hurried. Good. Maybe I could finally get some answers.

 

I took a deep breath and hurried over, pushing past patrons on my way.

 

Emmett didn’t look too surprised to see me, but then again, he did work a diner that probably served most of the town each day. 

 

“Bella!” He exclaimed, “What can I get you?”

 

“Information, actually.” I said, settling down at one of the stools in front of him.

 

His gaze didn’t change, aside from one slightly raised eyebrow. “That’s cryptic.”

 

“About your brother…”

 

“I mean, Jas is a sweetheart but he’s not really a girl kind of person…”

 

“No!” I interrupted, cheeks heating. “I think you know who I’m talking about.” 

 

He sighed, putting the glass he was drying down on the counter. “Do you know how many people have come here to ask me about Edward?”

 

“Nope.”  I didn’t.

 

“Too many. You could try and talk to him yourself?” Emmett settles against the edge of the counter. “He’s taken a shine to you.”

 

“That’s the thing.” I said. “No offense, of course, Emmett, he’s your brother and all, but he’s  _ weird.”  _

 

Emmett laughed. It was a pleasant rumbling sound, far deeper than I’d expect from someone still in high school. “Tell me something I don’t know. He listens to more Debussy than Debussy ever did.”

 

Debussy. Huh. Classical composers weren’t really for me. “I mean… everyone’s got their own music tastes…?” I trailed off awkwardly, knowing that I wasn’t really steering the conversation the way I wanted to. “Edward, though. Please, Emmett, I really need to talk about this.” 

 

He sighed again, clearly fed up with my shenanigans. “One moment.” He disappeared into the kitchen behind the counter and reappeared a few moments later with a root beer. “Come on.” 

 

Ducking under the counter, and out into the main bar with me, he headed out into the parking lot, clearly expecting me to follow him.

 

So, I did. What did I have to lose? It wasn’t as though he could murder me in the bright daylight, and he didn’t seem the type to do so anyway.

He perched on the hood of my truck and tossed me the root beer, which I fumbled with but managed to catch. I counted that as a win. 

 

“I’ve got ten minutes. What do you want to know?”

 

What  _ did  _ I want to know? I wanted to know why Edward was so weird - why he was enamored with me one day and aloof the next - I wanted to know why Alice could move at the speed of lightning, but had to deny it… There were so many questions I could ask.

 

And so I asked him the one question I had that I felt was the most innocuous. “Is your family part of a cult?”

 

It was obvious that the question took him by surprise the way he laughed at it. “Not at all. We’re not all carrying the plague or something like that, either. Any other hypotheticals, Bells?”

 

“Is Alice dating anyone?” I said it without thinking and immediately flushed.  _ I’m an idiot.  _

 

“Perv.” Emmett laughed. “And no. Might want to discuss that with her though. Anything else?”

 

My final question would put me on thin ice. I was hesitant to ask it, not wanting to do anything to cause offense to Emmett. He seemed like a nice enough guy, and I didn’t want to burn the only Cullen bridges I had managed to create.

 

He must have realised that my question was going to be a curly one, because he rolled his eyes and said, “Look, whatever you’re about to ask is obviously kinda touchy. I get that. But I’ve had people ask me what kind of underwear Edward wears. I doubt it’s going to be as strange as that.”

 

The thought of Edward’s underwear was something I was  _ resolutely  _ not going to think about. I was not going to be like that. “Could you get him to sort himself out?” I said, my words piling out in a rush. “He’s fine one minute, colder than ice the next. He’s an inconsistent mess and I really cannot deal with it.” 

 

I probably had said some things I shouldn’t have, but I didn’t regret them. Honestly was something I had always favoured, and I wasn’t going to stop now.

 

To my surprise, Emmett  _ laughed.  _ “Look, Edward’s young. He’s a bit strange, but he’s still adjusting to some things. He’s terrible at talking to girls, but he means no offense. I’m positive of that one.” 

 

His words didn’t really answer my question, and I could sense he was skirting around something. “What is it that you’re not telling me?” 

For the first time in the conversation, he seemed to seriously consider what he was about to say. “Look, Bells, I want to tell you the trut-” Then he paused, looked towards the road and said, “On second thoughts, I’ve gotta run. Shift’s about to start again. I think that’s Alice coming now, though. You should catch up. You two look good together.”

 

He winked at me, slid off the hood, and ran back inside. 

 

Dammit. Why did this whole family have to be so evasive? 

 

Sure enough, though, it was Alice who pulled up into the lot a minute later. We had a quick conversation, but she seemed distracted - almost  _ worried -  _ so I let her go and find her brother without much of an interrogation.

 

I drove home, mulling over the Cullens, and wishing I’d been able to get more out of Emmett. The whole family was hiding something, and I really needed to find out what.


	11. la push

That night at dinner, Charlie seemed enthused by my trip to La Push in the morning. I think he was pleased that I was actually going out and socialising, and not spending all my weekends stuck in my cave of a room. 

I didn’t tell him about my conversation with Emmett, or how infuriating I was finding Edward. Charlie seemed fond of the Cullens and I didn’t want to come between that partnership. He was already giving me free accommodation at his house, and a lot more than that besides, and I didn’t want to do anything that could jeopardise that. 

 

I could handle it.

 

I meant to sleep in the next morning, but an unusual brightness woke me up early. I opened my eyes to see a curious brightness streaming in through my window.  _ No way. _

 

I hurried to my window to check, and sure enough, it was sunny. It was in the wrong place in the sky, a little low, and far weaker than I was used to, but it was  _ sun.  _

 

It felt like a good omen.

 

I dressed and headed out to meet my friends. They were all parked in the lot outside Newtons’ Olympic Outfitters - Mike’s family’s store. I knew where La Push was, vaguely, but I didn’t want to rely on a patchy Google Maps signal to find my way there. I was happy we were going to carpool.

Mike offered me shotgun in his mom’s minivan. I asked Angela if she wanted it, but she had bought a large book and said she wanted to sit in the back and read it on the way to the beach. 

 

Fair enough. I wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

 

It was only fifteen miles to La Push from Forks, with gorgeous lush forests surrounding the road most of the way. I could only see a few feet into the forest from the road, and then my view disappeared into darkness. It was intriguing,  _ and  _ mysterious. I wouldn’t like to be stuck in the middle of one of those forests without a light source.

 

I’d been to the beaches around La Push with Charlie whenever I got the chance to see him, but the mile-long crescent of First Beach was still beautiful to me. The water was dark grey and alien. Large, jagged cliffs rose out of the edge of the water, and were crowned with exquisite firs. Though there was only a very small section of ‘real’ beach (that is, with sand), the tide line was strewn with huge pieces of driftwood, bleached white from the salt waves.

 

The wind was cool and briny. Seagulls struggled to make purchase in the gusts, and a lone eagle wheeled far above. Clouds still circled the sky threateningly, but we were safe for the moment. 

 

We picked our way down to the beach. I got a stone in my shoe and spent far too long picking it out. By the time I made it to the tideline, everyone had collected enough firewood to create a decently-sized blaze.

 

Mike fiddled with some firelighters underneath the pile of wood, and soon enough, managed to catch them alight.

 

As the driftwood caught fire, it burnt brightly.

 

And  _ bluely.  _

 

“It’s blue.” I gasped. Never had I seen something so magical come from something so simple. Maybe Forks wasn’t so bad, after all.

 

“The salt water does it.” Eric said. “Pretty, isn’t it?” He tossed me a piece of wood and I added it to the fire. This piece burnt green.

 

I watched the strange blue and green flames lick towards the sky for half an hour or so, letting the conversation from the group wash over me. Although I was on a strange beach, so far away from where I called home, this felt  _ right.  _

 

Mike, Erik and Angela wanted to hike to the nearby tide pools, citing ‘scientific study’ as their reasoning. (I think they just wanted to look at pretty things.) I joined them, and spent a relaxing twenty minutes sitting on a rock and gazing into the water.

 

Angela was taking photos of things, and Mike and Eric were doing whatever boys do when they’re confronted with things that are mysterious and exciting, so I was left to ponder.

 

What was Alice doing now? In that same vein, what was  _ Edward  _ doing? I couldn’t imagine him here, enjoying himself. He’d treat my friends with derision and refuse to be spellbound by the rock pools. He’d  _ hate  _ it.

 

The thought was pleasing, despite his stupidly attractive face.

  
  


Mike checked the time on his phone. “About time we head back. Food’s calling.” I got up stiffly to follow them back. We headed back through the forest and I only managed to trip once. It was progress.

 

When we got back to First Beach, the group we had left had multiplied. As we got closer we could see the shining, straight black hair and copper skin of the newcomers, teens from the reservation come to socialise.

 

The food was already being passed around, and it smelt wonderful. There was something so  _ different  _ about food being made over a campfire that made it far nicer than anything I could ever make at home.

 

I sat next to Angela, who was happy to accept my presence beside her without dragging me into the conversation. There was one of the strangers that I felt like I recognised… he seemed oddly familiar but I couldn’t quite place him.

 

After lunch, some of the kids decided to head back to the tide pools, a few wandered along the coast, and Mike and Angela headed towards the only shop in the nearby village. 

 

I was left sitting on my log with the boy I vaguely recognised, and a couple of the other locals. As though he was finally seeking his chance, the boy sauntered over to sit by my side. He looked roughly my age, maybe a little younger, and had long, glossy black hair pulled back with a rubber band at the nape of his neck. His skin was beautiful, silky and russet-colored; his eyes were dark, set deep above the high planes of his cheekbones. Altogether, his face was very pretty. Nothing like the those of the Cullens, but no less attractive. 

 

“You’re Isabella Swan, aren’t you?”

 

It was like the first day of school all over again. I rolled my eyes. “Bella.” 

 

“I’m Jacob Black.” He smiled, “You bought my dad’s truck?”

 

Oh. That’s why he seemed familiar. Jacob and I had been thrown together a lot by our respective fathers as children whenever I was in town. However, we were both rather shy, and our friendship hadn’t really progressed. “You’re Billy’s son.”   
  


“That’s me.” He grinned even wider. “By the way, how do you like the truck?”

 

“It’s certainly sturdy.” 

 

“Have you tried to go over sixty?” He had a pleasant, husky voice. 

 

“No.” I admitted. “I take it I shouldn’t?”

 

“Hey, be my guest.” He shrugged. “You might not live to tell the tale, though.”

 

“I’ll keep that in mind.” I liked the truck, despite the fact that it could fall apart at any moment. Somehow, that added to its charm. “So, do you get into town much? Know anyone? The Cullens?”

 

I might have had them on my mind  _ slightly  _ too much.

 

A wary look crossed his face and he glanced surreptitiously at the other two locals sitting across the fire from us. “...I know Dr Cullen and his wife.  The others I… know  _ of _ .”

 

I couldn’t understand what had caused him to close up so quickly. “Throw me a bone here, I’m new in town. Do you know anything  _ specific  _ about them?”

 

He glanced over at the others across the fire again. Abruptly, he stood, grasped me by the elbow and called, “Bella and I are off for a walk, Sam!” 

 

One of the boys across the fire looked at us for a moment, seemed to decide I was harmless, and nodded. 

 

“Come on.” Jacob said, and practically dragged me away.

 

As we walked north across the multihued stones toward the driftwood seawall, the clouds finally closed ranks across the sky, causing the sea to darken and the temperature to drop. I shoved my hands deep into the pockets of my jacket. Jacob’s stony silence was beginning to be a bit annoying. What was it with people in this town? Everyone seemed to be keeping secrets.

 

After about five minutes of brisk walking, he strolled to a nearby driftwood tree that had its roots sticking out like the attenuated legs of a huge, pale spider. He perched lightly on one of the twisted roots and I sat down next to him. We were silent for a moment.

 

“I shouldn’t be telling you any of this.” He started.

 

“Oh, I won’t tell anyone. I’m just curious.” I tried to make my smile alluring, knowing that I was probably laying it on a bit thick. “New towns, you know?”

 

He sighed, and gazed out towards the sea. Something was troubling him, and I hoped I’d get to find out what. “The Cullens… aren’t supposed to come onto the reservation. And we don’t really associate with them on ‘their’ turf. Sometimes it’s unavoidable, if we have to go to the hospital - that’s how I know Carlisle and Esme - but generally, we don’t... exactly see eye to eye.”

 

‘Their turf’? From what I understood, the Cullens had only been in the area for a few years at most. How did they have such a claim? I asked as much of Jacob.

 

“It’s complicated. They don’t want us around, and we don’t want them around. It’s better if we just keep apart from each other.”

 

“But  _ why?” _

 

He huffed. “So many questions, Bells.” 

 

I glanced up at him through my eyelashes, trying to look intrigued. Was I a terrible person for trying to influence him sexually? Yes. Was it working? Also yes.

 

He lifted an eyebrow, looking allured. “Tell me, do you like scary stories?”

 

“I  _ love  _ them.” (I really, really don’t.)

 

His voice was even huskier when he began to speak. “Do you know any of the old stories about where we - the Quileutes - came from?”

 

“I don’t.” This answer was truthful.

 

“There’s loads of them. Myths upon myths - most of them are a bit weird - but there’s some we really put stock in. One legend says that we’re descended from wolves, and the wolves are our brothers still. It’s against tribal law to kill them.”

 

Now  _ that  _ was interesting. If it was just a legend, why did they put so much real-life thought into it? 

 

“But  _ then  _ there are the stories of the Cold Ones.” He leaned in closer and his voice dropped even lower. 

“The Cold Ones?” I couldn’t help thinking of how cold Alice had been when she’d touched me after the van crash. It was just speculation, but something about the name touched something in me.

 

“Yeah. There’s stories of them that are as old as the wolf legends. See, we’re supposed to be descended from wolves, right? According to the legends, the Cold Ones are our natural enemies. They just don’t smell right to us or something.”

 

“Go on…” I felt a chill run down my spine. There were parts of his story that felt too fantastic to be real, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something in it. 

 

“There was supposedly a pack of Cold Ones that came to our territory in my great-grandfather’s time. They didn’t hunt in the way that other Cold Ones did - they weren’t a danger to the tribe. So, my great-grandfather made a truce with them. If they stayed off our land, there wouldn’t be any problems.”

 

“Did it work?” I asked, completely engrossed in his story.

 

“Sort of.” He sighed. “Apparently there was an Incident near the end of the Second World War, but the pale-faces never heard about it because of the furor from the war itself. The truce wasn’t broken, though.”

 

“If they weren’t dangerous, then why…?” I tried not to let him realise how much I was actually considering his ghost story.

 

“Cold Ones are always a danger to humans, even if they are civilised. It was insurance. You never know when a Cold One might get to hungry to resist.” He winked at me.

 

I didn’t feel it. There was an odd coolness hovering in my chest. “Civilised?” I croaked.

 

“Apparently they didn’t hunt humans. They learned to live on animals alone.”

 

I cleared my throat and tried to keep my voice casual. “So how does this all fit in with the Cullens, then? Are they supposed to be the descendents of the Cold Ones your great-grandfather met?”

 

“No.” He paused dramatically. “They’re the same ones.”

 

He must have thought the expression on my face was because of his story. 

 

He was wrong.

  
  


“There are more of them now, but most of the rest are the same. They knew of Carlisle in my great-grandfather’s time, but their pack has gained and lost a few people over the years.” He was fighting a smile.

 

“But - what - what are they? What are the Cold Ones?” I finally managed to gasp. Any pretence I’d had that I didn’t care about the story was gone. I was hooked.

 

“Blood drinkers.” He smiled darkly. “Your people call them vampires.”

 

Oh. 

 

“You have goosebumps.” Jacob said, delightedly. 

 

I said nothing, and just stared out at the waves.

  
  


The fifteen-mile trip home seemed to take hours. I drummed my fingers on the dashboard of Mike’s van and tried very hard not to think. Outside, the rain poured down, making the road slippery and visibility very low. 

 

We were forced to a crawl just down the road from Mike’s shop. Traffic was backed up all the way down the main drag. The anxiety cramps I was getting were growing, and I was tempted to just get out and make a run for my car.

 

I needed my room. I needed warmth and safety, but most of all, I needed my computer. I needed to do some research.


	12. the research

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bella does some research.

My truck skidded on the driveway as I arrived home, but I hardly noticed. I told Charlie I had a lot of homework to do, and flagrantly threw off his concerns about wanting me to eat. There was a basketball game on that he was watching - he’d be absorbed by that soon enough. 

I needed to research. I needed to.

 

My laptop took an embarrassing length of time to turn on, and while it did, I picked up my old CD player, put in a CD that Jim had gotten me for Christmas (My Chemical Romance - which wasn’t exactly to my taste but would do) and turn it up as loud as it would go.

I was going to be calm about this. I was. 

  
  


_ Vampire.  _

 

That was it, in the browser window, ready to search. All I had to do was hit enter.

 

I hesitated. I didn’t want to know what I would find. 

_ Dammit.  _ I had to know.

 

_ Vampire. _

 

The first few links were just pop-culture related - Anne Rice, vampire movies, Vampire Weekend - but then I found a link to a page that seemed decent. Simple page layout, academic text.

 

A quote stood out to me.

_ Vampires are neither inhuman nor non-human nor all-too-human, they are simply more alive than they should be.  _

\- Auerbach

 

Well, that was a positive start, if anything.

I trawled through the site, reading myths from all around the world, trying to find something that sounded right (or at least plausible). 

 

There were the Grecian  _ striges  _ \- which had the bodies of birds but fed on men and women alike; the Albanian  _ shtriga -  _ which sucked the blood of infants at night and turned into a moth during the day; and the Tagalog  _ Mandurugo _ , which took the form of an attractive girl by day and developed a proboscis at night.

 

Nothing seemed to fit…

But.

 

Only three entries really caught my attention: the Romanian  _ Varacolaci _ , a powerful undead being who could appear as a beautiful, pale-skinned human, the Slovak  _ Nelapsi _ , a creature so strong and fast it could massacre an entire village in the single hour after midnight, and one other, the  _ Stregoni benefici _ . 

About this last one there was only one brief sentence. Stregoni benefici: An Italian vampire, said to be on the side of goodness, and a mortal enemy of all evil vampires. 

 

It was reassuring that not all of the entries seemed to be bad.

 

The only thing that was missing was the ability to be a complete and total ass, but maybe that was just an Edward thing. 

 

Suddenly uncomfortable, I snapped off the computer's main power switch, not waiting to shut things down properly. Through my irritation, I felt overwhelming embarrassment. It was all so stupid. I was sitting in my room, researching vampires. What was wrong with me? I decided that most of the blame belonged on the doorstep of the town of Forks — and the entire sodden Olympic Peninsula, for that matter. Too green. Too mysterious. I was imagining things.

  
  


That night, I dreamed of the forest. Aware in some corner of my consciousness that I was dreaming, I recognized the green light of the forest. I could hear the waves crashing against the rocks somewhere nearby. And I knew that if I found the ocean, I'd be able to see the sun. I was trying to follow the sound, but then Jacob Black was there, tugging on my hand, pulling me back toward the blackest part of the forest.

 

"Jacob? What's wrong?" I asked. His face was frightened as he yanked with all his strength against my resistance; I didn't want to go into the dark. 

"Run, Bella, you have to run!" he whispered, terrified.

"Bella! Please!" I recognized Alice’s voice calling out of the gloomy heart of the trees, but I couldn't see her. 

"Why?!" I asked, still pulling against Jacob's grasp, desperate now to find the sun.

 

But Jacob let go of my hand and yelped, suddenly shaking, falling to the dim forest floor. 

 

"Jacob!" I screamed. But he was gone, swallowed up by the trees. 

"Bella, run!" Alice cried out again from behind me. But I didn't turn. I was watching a light coming toward me from the beach. 

 

And then Edward stepped out from the trees, his skin faintly glowing, his eyes black and dangerous. He held up one hand and beckoned me to come to him. 

 

I stepped back, stumbling on the thick tree roots below me. I somehow knew that I shouldn’t let him get any closer to me. 

 

“Bella!” Alice again, coming from somewhere to my left. “Get out of here! Run!”

 

But I couldn’t move my legs. I was frozen in place as Edward stalked towards me. I fell back against a tree and stared up at him. Hunger burned in his eyes.

 

“Don’t. Please.” I begged, not even sure what I was begging for. “ _ Please.” _

 

But he kept on advancing and knelt to my level. He cupped my cheek in one hand and stared down at me. “Don’t resist, Bella.” His voice was still honeylike, but it held none of the appealing quality it had when I was awake. 

I shivered as he touched me. It wasn’t a good shiver. “Back off."

 

He leaned down towards me, fangs bared, aiming for my jugular.

“NO!” I screamed, wrenching upright out of my bed. 

  
  


It was 5.30am. I felt nauseous and dizzy, like something wasn’t quite right with my head. I groaned, fell back, and rolled over onto my face.

It was then that I smelt it. There was one spot on my bed, about the size of one of my textbooks, that  _ reeked  _ of honey, warmth and darkness. It stung my nose.

 

It smelt almost exactly like Edward. 

 

I rolled out of bed and hit the ground  _ hard _ , heart hammering wildly in my chest _.  _ There was no way. Peeking up from the floor, I looked around the room manically. There was no-one there, and the window was locked just as it had been the night before. 

It was fine. I was fine.  _ Fine.  _ I had to be imagining things.

  
  


It took me a long while to get back to sleep. 


	13. Thirteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> slight warning for attempted assault - it doesn't actually happen, but it's still kinda scary

Edward wasn’t in class the next morning.

Neither were any other members of his family. They were all absent, their table sitting lone in the cafeteria, forgotten. 

 

I supposed it served me right. My mother had always taught me to never go sticking my nose into things, and look where I was now. 

 

In more awful news, the girl’s choice dance was coming up and Jessica had invited me to come dress shopping with her and Angela in Port Angeles. Despite my pleas to the contrary (I wasn’t even  _ going  _ to the dance), they’d somehow persuaded me to come along. 

However, as the afternoon approached, I felt a slight lift of excitement at the thought of getting out of Forks. Although the city was growing on me (barely, and it was mainly because of my friends), the thought of going somewhere  _ else  _ was a nice one.

 

Jess drove faster than the Chief, so we made it to Port Angeles by four. It had been a while since I'd had a girls' night out, and the estrogen rush was invigorating. We listened to whiny rock songs while the other two nattered on about the dance and how excited they were for it.

Jessica was on the dance committee, and had made promises that it would be a night to remember. I was sure it would be. 

 

Port Angeles was a beautiful little tourist trap, much more polished and quaint than Forks. Jessica and Angela knew it well, so they didn't plan to waste time on the picturesque boardwalk by the bay. Jess drove straight to the one big department store in town, which was a few streets in from the bay area's visitor-friendly face. 

 

Both Jessica and Angela seemed surprised and almost disbelieving when I told them I'd never been to a dance in Phoenix. 

"Didn't you ever go with a boyfriend or something?" Jess asked dubiously as we walked through the front doors of the store. 

“Not really my area.” I replied. ‘Or something’ was probably most accurate but I really wasn’t in the mood to go into it. “Plus, nobody asked me.”

“People ask you out here.” Angela added, quietly, “But you refuse them.”

 

We’d found the dress racks, and now we had work to do. I wasn’t going to tell them that the only people I wanted to go to the ball with were both a) unobtainable and b) possibly vampires. Talking about it seemed like a bad idea. “Like I said, not really my area. Let’s do this.”

The dress selection wasn't large, but both of them found a few things to try on. I sat on a low chair just inside the dressing room, by the three-way mirror, trying not to lose my mind. I complimented them both on dresses that suited them perfectly and helped by returning the rejects to their racks. The whole process was much shorter and easier than similar trips I'd taken with mom at home. I guess there was something to be said for limited choices. 

We headed over to shoes and accessories. While they tried things on I merely watched and critiqued, not in the mood to shop for myself, though I did need new shoes. 

 

I just wasn’t in the mood to try. After my revelation of a couple of nights ago, I was finding it hard to focus on the more mundane parts of life.

 

We planned to go to dinner at a little Italian restaurant on the boardwalk, but the dress shopping hadn't taken as long as we'd expected. Jess and Angela were going to take their clothes back to the car and then walk down to the bay. I told them to text me when they were ready for food — I wanted to look for a bookstore. 

The first bookstore I found was a new-age one. While it did seem to have quite an impressive selection, it wasn’t for me and I moved on quickly, heading further downtown into the heart of the city.

 

I spotted a gray Volvo as I went, and that abruptly threw me back to the uncomfortable conversation I’d recently had with Edward.  _ God.  _ How did he have the audacity? 

Vampires be damned, the boy needed an etiquette lesson.

 

Suddenly irritated, I stomped along in a southerly direction, toward some glass-fronted shops that looked promising. But when I got to them, they were just a repair shop and a vacant space. I ran my fingers through my hair a couple of times and took some deep breaths before I continued around the corner. Overhead, thick black clouds were beginning to form in the sky. If I didn't get under cover soon, I'd end up soaked.

I started to realize, as I crossed another road, that I was going the wrong direction. The little foot traffic I had seen was going north, and it looked like the buildings here were mostly warehouses. I decided to turn east at the next corner, and then loop around after a few blocks and try my luck on a different street on my way back to the boardwalk. 

 

A group of four men turned around the corner I was heading for, dressed nicely in business suits. As they approached me, I realized with some surprise that they weren't too many years older than I was. They were joking loudly among themselves, laughing raucously and punctuating their speech with various expletives. I scooted as far to the inside of the sidewalk as I could to give them room, walking swiftly, looking past them to the corner. This was bad. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up as I watched them approach. 

 

“Hi, honey!” One of them called, stumbling towards me. “Why don’t you stay and talk to us?”

“No thanks,” I mumbled, response only born out of habit. I turned away, walked faster around the corner, and refused to meet their eyes. 

“Hey, wait!” 

 

I heard them call after me, but I quickened my pace and squinted through the dusk, trying to find some sign of pedestrians, of a crowd I could get lost in.

 

To my horror, I realised the men were following me. 

 

“There you are!” One of them boomed, faceless in the growing dark. They were all the same, anyway.

“Stay away from m-me.” I warned in a voice that was supposed to sound strong and fearless, but I tripped on the last word. I turned towards them, heart hammering in my chest and in my ears. “Stop.”

“Don’t be like that, honey.” One of them said.

 

And he  _ laughed. _

 

But yet, they still advanced. I backed away, only stopping because I was flat back against a wall. 

 

I braced myself, feet apart, trying to remember through my panic what little self-defense I knew. Heel of the hand thrust upward, hopefully breaking the nose or shoving it into the brain. Finger through the eye socket — try to hook around and pop the eye out. And the standard knee to the groin, of course. 

That same pessimistic voice in my mind spoke up then, reminding me that I probably wouldn't have a chance against one of them, and there were four. Shut up! I commanded the voice before terror could incapacitate me. I wasn't going out without taking someone with me. I tried to swallow so I could build up a decent scream. 

 

Headlights suddenly flew around the corner, the car almost hitting the group, forcing them to jump back toward the sidewalk. I dove into the road — this car was going to stop, or have to hit me. But the silver car unexpectedly fishtailed around, skidding to a stop with the passenger door open just a few feet from me. 

 

"Get in," a furious voice commanded.

 

Edward? 

What? No.

 

Panic gripped me, more debilitating than it had been before. I couldn’t. I  _ wouldn’t.  _

 

How had he found me? Was he stalking me?

In the dusk, in the middle of nowhere? There was no way in  _ hell  _ I was getting into a car with him. 

 

I looked towards my assailants, who seemed slightly cowed by the shiny car.

But they wouldn’t be for long.

  
  


Clutching my purse to me, I ducked around the back of the Volvo and took off down the street, running as fast as I could towards the bright lights of the city. 

 

Behind me I heard the Volvo rev up again, but I kept on running, cold air whistling past my face.

Now, I’m not a runner at all, but soon enough I ducked around a corner and emerged out onto a warmly-lit street, full of pedestrians on their way home. 

 

The sky opened and it started pouring down just as I managed to make it under shelter.

 

I collapsed against a wall and tried to pull in a couple of breaths, but my heart was racing too fast and my lungs felt like they had a vice clamped around them. 

 

Calm. I needed to calm down.  _ I was fine. I would be fine. _ Nothing had happened.  _ I would be fine. _

 

A young woman, probably not much older than me, looked at me with some concern as she walked past. 

I waved her off, smiled weakly, and desperately tried to get some control over myself.

 

_ Fine. I would be fine.  _

 

My phone, which I had totally forgotten I had in all the confusion, pinged with a message. I hadn’t really needed one in Phoenix, but now that I had  _ friends,  _ I was thankful that I had picked up a cheap Nokia a few week previously. 

 

[JESS: 6.02pm]  _ we rdy 4 food. u? _

 

I leaned back against the wall, tipped my head to the roof above me and contemplated my answer. If I went to dinner now, I knew they’d realise something was wrong.

But Jess  _ was  _ my only ride back to Forks. Damn. I’d just have to field Jess and Angela’s questions when they came.

I lowered my head, set on replying to the message, but something stopped me in my tracks.

 

Alice.

 

Looking stunning as always, despite rivulets of rain running down her face. Her eyes were concerned, but I couldn’t focus on them.

 

_ Why was she here?  _ Why was she in Port Angeles at the same time as her brother? Was this a joint thing? What was going on?

 

“Bella, I-” She started, reaching a hand out towards me.

But I couldn’t. I edged back along the wall, perfectly ready to make another break for it out into the rain. “Don’t touch me.”

“Bella, please, I just want to talk.”

 

To  _ talk?  _ Seriously? “If you’ve got your damn brother stashed around the corner, I’ll be very disappointed.”

 

Her perfect features creased in an approximation of confusion. “My brother?”

“Edward.”

“Shit.” She swore under her breath. “Bella, believe me, I have no control over him. Can we just go somewhere to talk? I’ll buy you dinner.”

That sounded like bribery. However, I couldn’t say that I was  _ upset  _ to see Alice. She’d been the picture of politeness to me, and had done nothing that set alarm bells screaming in my head. “I’ll buy my own dinner. I don’t even know if you guys -” I waved a hand in her direction, “-eat normal food or whatever, but I’ll buy my own.”

“Okay.” She said, quietly, apparently not rattled by my use of ‘you guys’, “Let’s talk.”

 

I managed to send Jess a quick text back before she started striding off along the wet pavement.

 

[BELLA: 6.07pm]  _ met a family friend from forks - she’s taking me out to dinner. super sorry for bailing on you. she’ll drop me home. _

 

Or at least I  _ hoped  _ she’d drop me home and wasn’t just colluding with her brother to drain me of blood.

What a night. 

 


	14. Chapter 14

The restaurant wasn't crowded — it was the off-season in Port Angeles. The host was a woman, and yet I understood the look in her eyes as she welcomed Alice. Everyone was a little taken by her. It was part of her charm. The hostess was tall, ostentatiously blonde, and very pretty. The silver nametag on her shirt read ‘Emma’. 

 

"A table for two?" Alice’s voice was alluring, whether she was aiming for that or not. 

 

I saw Emma’s eyes flicker to me and then away, satisfied by my obvious ordinariness, and by the cautious, no-contact space Alice kept between us.

She led us around a partition to a small ring of booths — all of them empty. "How's this?”

 

"Lovely, thank you." Alice smiled gently, dazing her momentarily.

 

"Um" — Emma shook her head, blinking — "your server will be right out." She walked away unsteadily. 

 

I sat down at the booth, relishing in the warmth that had enveloped me ever since we entered the restaurant. It felt good to be in the light. It made everything outside seem far, far away.

 

“You really shouldn’t do that.” I said, dryly, putting as much focus as I could into my words, away from the hammering in my head. “You’ll give the poor girl a heart attack.”

 

Alice neatly put her handbag down and slid into the booth opposite me. “Do what?” 

 

“You honestly can’t tell me that you don’t know.”

 

She smiled cheekily, then said, “Yes… but perhaps I just want you to say it.”

 

I huffed. “You dazzle people, alright? You and all of your darn siblings. You could have anyone in this town if you wanted.”

 

“What if there’s only one person this town that I want?” She blinked slowly, innocently at me and I felt my face flush.

 

Yeah, no, I couldn’t do this. 

 

“I appreciate what you’re trying to do,” I stammered, and stood up from the booth, “But I think I’ll just go.” 

 

She caught my hand before I had the chance to leave, and both of us knew that if she really wanted to make me stay there was no choice I had in the matter. 

 

But she didn’t resort to that. “Bella…” She sighed, “I don’t want to make you stay. I know you’re scared, I know you’ve just been through a lot and I wish that I was there to stop it, but I’m just trying to help you. You want answers? I’ll give you answers.” 

 

I pulled my hand out of her grasp and sat back down in the booth, cheeks still uncomfortably hot. “Don’t bullshit me. I’ve had enough of that from your family.”

 

“I won’t.”  

 

There was something in her tone that made me believe her, despite everything. 

 

Our server arrived then, her face expectant. It was obvious that she had been expecting  _ something _ , but a couple of girls on a night out probably wasn’t it. 

 

“Evening.” She smiled politely and pushed a strand of dark hair behind her ear. “My name is Amber and I’ll be your waitress for tonight. What can I get you?” 

 

I flipped through the menu quickly, picking the first thing that I laid my eyes on, praying desperately that it was in my price range. “Uh, can I have the spinach cannelloni and a Coke?”

 

“Excellent.” Amber marked my order down and turned to Alice. “And for you?”

 

“Just water, thanks.” 

 

“Of course.” Amber smiled, politely, “I’ll be right back with that.”

 

She left, with a quick glance at Alice as she did. 

 

Alice didn’t see her though, because she was too busy looking at me. 

 

“What?” I asked.

 

Her eyes stayed fixed on my face. “How are you feeling?”

 

“Like I’d rather sit down and sleep for a week than be here.”

 

“You don’t feel dizzy, sick, cold…?”

 

“Not especially.” I knew she was checking for shock. I’d been there before and would probably be there again. Perils of being the clumsiest person in the world. “I’m particularly good at repressing unpleasant things, don’t worry.” 

 

“Still, I’ll feel better once you’ve had some sugar and food in you.”

 

We sat mostly in silence until my food arrived. It wasn’t uncomfortable, not really. I just felt like I had so many questions to ask and I wasn’t sure what to start with. 

 

I took a sip of my Coke and looked up at Alice. She wasn’t drinking her water, just tapping her nails against the edge of the glass gently. 

 

“I have… questions.” 

 

“Understandable. Go ahead.”

 

I started with the most undemanding. “Why were you in Port Angeles tonight?”

 

“I was worried about… something… and I wanted to stop it happening. Next?”

 

I sighed, and tried some of the cannelloni. It was good, but it wasn’t helping things. “Did you know I would be here?”

 

Her perfect brows furrowed. “...Yes. And no.”

 

“That’s really not helping.”

 

“It’s not an exact science!” She yelped, dropping her fist to the table and rattling my cutlery, then immediately looked sheepish. “Sorry. But it’s not.” 

 

Now we were getting somewhere. “What’s ‘it’?”

 

She lowered her gaze, and refused to make eye contact with me. “Let’s say… hypothetically… that someone could see flashes of the future and stop things happening before they happen.”

 

Holy shit.

 

I fought to keep my voice from wavering. There were no falsities in her voice, nothing to suggest that she was lying to me. First vampirism, now this? I was living in a new world and I didn’t think I liked it very much. “And if… hypothetically… this individual did have this power, what would the limitations be?”

 

“Hypothetically, this individual would only see these flashes, but not necessarily be able to do anything about them.” 

 

“So, tonight?”

 

“I may have known something was going to happen, but I got here too late. Believe me, Bella, I  _ tried,  _ I just…”

 

I sagged in my seat. This was all too much for me. It had been a maniacal few weeks and it was beginning to take its toll. My heart was hammering so hard that it felt like it was about to explode out of my chest. “Can we stop talking in metaphors? I just want- I just… I just want this all to stop.”

 

Alice finally looked up, eyes seeking mine, full of her own questions. “Do you want to leave?”

 

“Please.” I had never been so ready to get out of a restaurant before.

 

I was so distracted by my own thoughts that I hardly noticed when Alice paid the bill and led me out of the restaurant with a gentle hand on my back. 

 

“I’m taking you home.” She murmured, almost as though she was talking to herself, “It’ll be safer.” 

 

_ Safer?  _ What did she mean, safer? 

 

We were suddenly at a bright yellow car and I had collapsed into it before I could do any more thinking. Everything seemed hazy, like I was caught in a dream. 

 

But despite all that, for the first time that evening, I felt strangely  _ safe.  _


	15. Chapter 15

I dozed in the car on the way back to Forks. Rain pummelled the car from all sides, but I couldn’t find it in myself to care.

Thankfully, despite everything, Alice’s focus on the road didn’t seem to waver. She drove slightly faster than the speed limit, but I wasn’t worried. Somehow I knew that she would be able to fix anything bad that happened before I could even register it.

 

Perils of being hundreds of years old, I supposed.

 

We were back in front of Charlie’s house before I ever knew it. The lights were on, my truck was in its place, everything was utterly normal. It was like waking from a dream.

 

Alice stopped the car, but I didn’t move. My head felt fuzzy, like the one and only time I’d tried alcohol. It was a weird haze. Everything felt soft around the edges, but comfortably warm. 

I wasn’t sure if I liked it.

 

“You should go to bed.” Alice said, softly, and gently grasped my hand in hers. “Sleep it off. Forget about it.”

 

“I can’t forget.” I sat up, bleary-eyed. It was like I was on the verge of panic and tears at the same time, all of a sudden. “I can’t. Don’t - I can’t forget this.”

 

“It would be better for you if you did.”

 

“Tonight was the worst night of my life, Alice.” I sighed, and looked up into her eyes. “But I’m not going to forget it. I’m more than my trauma and now I  _ know. _ ”

 

“If you’re certain.” She replied, but was clearly not happy about it. “Go to bed. I’ll see you at school.”

 

I must have made some movement that belied how I was feeling, because she sighed, and held open her arms. “Come here.”

 

I’m not a hugger, I’ve never been a hugger. The Swan family line much prefers to deal with things by ignoring them, and we’re  _ far  _ from touchy-feely.

The hug, though? It felt  _ good.  _ Alice’s cool, slightly-spiced embrace felt comfortable and welcoming. It felt like something I could get used to. 

 

“I’ll see you at school.” She repeated, right into my ear, words blowing breath against my cheek. She kissed me then, right on the cheek as well, and then drew back.

 

I was too stunned to say anything more than, “uh… yes… I’ll… bye!” as I stumbled out of the car and into the house.

 

She was gone before I could even look back.

  
  
  


The rain poured down in my dreams that night. I was standing on the top of a cliff in La Push, soaked to the skin.

Below me thrashed the tumbling, wild sea. It didn’t invite me - it would never invite me, but it didn’t repel me either. It was a presence at my back, somehow holding me steady despite being hundreds of feet below.

 

Alice stood in front of me, too, utterly drenched. Rain dripped off the points of her spiky hair and ran ragged tear streaks down her face.  

_ I’m sorry,  _ her eyes seemed to say, but she didn’t move towards me.

 

I looked up at the forest behind her. It wasn’t the pleasant, welcoming forest that I recognised from La Push, but something darker, more sinister.

And the darkness was growing, pushing out from the trees, curving around Alice and swelling towards me.

 

I turned to run, but there was nowhere to go. I was at the edge of a sheer precipice, and the only way to go way down.

 

_ No.  _ I had to run. I had to escape. I had to -

 

Something hit my back from behind and I fell, right down towards the deep blue of the ocean below.

 

To paralysed with fear to even scream, I dropped like a stone and hit the surface of the water, pain exploding through every inch of my skin. 

  
  


The pain ripped me back to consciousness and I flung myself up, breath coming in short, sharp gasps and world swinging about me. Room. I was in my room.

 

It was just a dream.

 

The pain seemed to hover under the surface of my skin for a minute, though, like it had never really let me go. I flopped back to the surface of my bed, trying desperately to get some semblance of sleep.

 

But I couldn’t.

 

The left side of my bed reeked of that rich honey and seductive warmth that I'd been smelling in classes for weeks.

 

_ No. _

 


End file.
